Something Simple
by Aneetra
Summary: Naruto had a simple dream he wanted to accomplish. Sasuke had a simple life he wanted to live. Just when things could be simple, a drastic move from Sasuke denies them their chances. (AU-SasuNaru)
1. Call it a beginning

Disclaimer: Naruto's characters are not mine.

This is a SasuNaru fic, meaning, YAOI. You have been warned!

Something Simple: 

He woke up to the incessant ringing of his bedside alarm clock. Raising his arm ever so tiredly, he dropped it with full force on the annoying machine to hush the unwanted noise. He almost leaped into the air when the pain from the impact shot through his arm, and for a moment he thought that it was completely paralysed. "K'so", he cursed, and lifted himself off the bed. The time was 6:30, much too early for his liking, but he had vowed to himself never to be late for school again. Especially when it was his first day at the new school he had tried to so hard to get into.

He proceeded into his tiny bathroom to take a morning shower. If he remembered correctly, school begins at 8:20, so he had exactly an hour and fifteen minutes to get ready; 20 minutes to shower, 15 to gather breakfast, 10 to dress up (he needed to give a good first impression) and the rest to do whatever. He had timed his walk to the school the day before and thanked the Gods for the 15-minute distance. Even though he won a scholarship, which covered the enormous school fees, book fees, and uniform prices, he still needed to save as much money as he can for social purposes. The school was for the rich sons and daughters and if he were to befriend one, the expenses would be huge!

He turned on the showers and waited for a while before he stepped into the heated water. The water relaxed his tensed muscles, soothing his entire body and he couldn't help but wonder about his new predicament. It's his final year at high school and starting one month late at this school because of the delayed transfer didn't exactly put him at an advantage. Sure enough, his old school taught him well, but he wasn't quite sure if the teaching was the same or if they differed greatly. What if he couldn't catch up to their pace, and fell behind? He already had a month gap between him and the others, if the workload was too much for him even on the first day, he would've completely sabotaged any of his future-great plans! And what of the people? He wondered. Would they accept him even if they knew that he wasn't like them? He didn't have the wealthy parents who paid everything for them. All he had was the two-year waiting list and three exams needed to sit. "Arghh!" he screamed aloud. Why was he so insecure about himself all of a sudden? "They either like me or they don't," he consoled. "No point dwelling on such stupid thoughts." He ignored the all-too-familiar sadness lingering in his chest. After all, Uzumaki Naruto had suffered from loneliness and dejection all his life. Why should another year of it matter?

He entered his classroom half an hour early as per usual. He was an early riser and enjoyed the silence of the school in the mornings. So used to seeing the empty seats that usually greeted him, Uchiha Sasuke was shocked to see that someone else had come in earlier. He didn't recognise the boy as the boy, too, seemed shocked of his early arrival. Both stared at each other for a while before the boy in the seat smiled and greeted him with a cheery "morning!" The boy was seated at the far end of the corner, facing the window; the seat that had belonged to him and was marked his territory at the beginning of the year. He gave a thorough look at the boy and saw that the cheerful smile was slowly subsiding, what was left was that of uncertainty and confusion and – a hint of annoyance. He noted that the hair was bond, short and spiked up by natural means. His eyes were a light blue, remindful of the sky in a lovely summer's day. His gaze going lower, he saw that the uniform was uncreased, smooth and immaculate. Sasuke looked away.

The boy was new.

A sudden hit on the head and a loud "Good morning" announced the arrival of the annoying English teacher who had, to him, the unfortunate relation of an uncle. He walked past him, not noticing the new kid and dropped his things on the desk. "So, Sasuke," he began. "You really always this early? I've heard it from the others but never quite believed them. I guess it's true, then. You really are a nerd!" With that he laughed a maniacal laugh, finding his joke a bit too amusing. Sasuke ignored the comment. Something was definitely wrong today, he thought. He was never used to being beaten to school and that mental Kakashi was, for once, early – way too early. He usually came around ten minutes before the end of lesson whenever they had him in the mornings. It was pure corruption that he was not fired.

He walked towards the seat on the opposite end of the room to the boy's, knowing quite well that it belonged to someone else's. He didn't care whom it belonged to; if he was going to lose his spot, someone else should too. Kakashi, noticing the unfamiliar seating, stopped laughing. Finally, he took note of the boy sitting quietly in the corner. He was slightly confused; he hadn't seen him before. "Erm, I think you're in the wrong class, dude," Kakashi said dumbly. The boy spoke up, putting on a polite voice in his answering.

"My name's Uzamaki Naruto. I'm new and today is my first day."

"Ah," Kakashi said. "Well, I'm your English teacher for first period. Call me Kakashi. And that over there is Sasuke; Uchiha Sasuke." He gave a wink in the said boy's direction. Sasuke didn't budge. "He's _very_ nice." Kakashi suddenly had on a devilish grin. "You know what Naruto san? Since it's still so early, why don't you have a tour around the school? I'm sure _Sasuke kun_ would be more than happy to be your guide." Upon hearing those words, Sasuke gave Kakashi a deadly look. Kakashi gave him an evil smile in return. "Right, Sasuke kun?" He wanted to kill Kakashi right that instant. That guy sure had a way of tormenting him. He was not a social person; everyone knows that. He never paid attention to anything, let alone classrooms and places that he had no relation to. How did he expect him to give someone a tour? Not that he wanted to in the first place, anyway. He was brought back by the boy's reply.

"Sure."

Yep, it's decided. Kakashi is dead meat.

Naruto didn't know why he agreed into having the tour. He had arrived earlier than expected and had walked around the school twice before going to his class. Maybe it was because he wanted to know this Sasuke guy and be friends with him; he hadn't planned on being a loner for the entire year. However, instinct should've told him that with that unfriendly – bordering on stuck up – attitude the boy showed earlier, that there was no way such a thing could ever happen. They had walked for 10 minutes already and no conversation – no matter how hard Naruto tried – had developed. They walked in near silence, with Naruto's occasional "where's this?" "where's that" and half the time Sasuke replying with a "no idea". It seems like that boy was just as bad as him and Naruto grew more and more irritated when it became obvious that that boy was trying to _avoid_ conversing with him.

After another 5 minutes of silence, Naruto was fed up. "Look, man," he said, not at all trying to hide his irritation, "I don't know what your problem is, but at least have the common courtesy to answer someone when they ask you a question." The boy seemed taken aback but remained quiet all the same. "What's wrong with you?" he tried again. " If you really didn't want to be here, why offer?"

"I didn't," came the monotonous reply. Naruto finally lost it. So what if he was right. Sure, it was that wacko teacher's idea, but why so blunt?

"I should've known," he said, "rich kids are stuck up brats. They think they're so good just because their parents have all the money in the world. You're like the rest, aren't you? Always pampered and getting things your way. But in the end, you guys always lack something that we have, and that's manners and respect for others! That's more important than all those riches." Truth be told, he wasn't quite sure where all that came from. But he wasn't one to back down. The boy merely scoffed at him.

"Then what are you doing here trying to mingle with our arrogant species?" Naruto was surprised with that comment.

"I'm not trying to mingle!" he said way too loudly. Some faces turned towards them and he noticed that, anytime soon, the school would be full and classes would begin. "It just so happens that I'm unpleasantly here."

"Unpleasant, alright."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Go figure."

Groups of students entered the building and the chatters that were supposed to surface were quickly hushed down by their bickering. Naruto hadn't planned for any of this attention but that boy in front of him was seriously getting on his nerves. He was pissed off already with the boy's lack of manners and behaviour but the fact that they were having an argument and he didn't even care to speak more than a few syllables really did it for him. "Fucking prick!"

"Asshole," he retorted.

"Bastard!"

"Fag."

"Dickhead!"

"Oi, you. How dare you call Sasuke kun that?" Naruto turned around. They were really making a scene, all right. There was a crowd of students standing along the corridor, surrounding the two and he could see more students flock in. This wasn't supposed to happen, Naruto thought, this wasn't how he wanted his first day to be like. He didn't want them to have a bad impression of him, but…he can't back down now, can he?

"Yeah, idiot," he heard a female voice speak. "Who are you, anyway? What right do you have to speak to Sasuke kun like that? Apologise to him now." He heard the entire student body agree and he cursed his luck. So, this Sasuke is popular too! His stay at this school was going to be a living hell.

"Shut the fuck up! It's none of your damn business."

He heard the combined "what?!" of female voices but he didn't care anymore. He hadn't finished with that Sasuke yet. Turning, he saw that the boy was nearly going back in class and went after him. "Hey, I'm not finished with you yet!" The boy turned around.

Naruto was getting closer.

Maybe he was running too fast and didn't stop in time. Maybe his body couldn't keep up with the speed and he tripped on his own feet. Or maybe, someone deliberately placed their feet out and tried to make a fool of him. Whatever the reason was, he didn't have enough time to think more about it for he felt gravity pulling him forward. He couldn't think properly when he grabbed the person's shoulders in front of him and pulled him down with him. Couldn't register just who that person was. Couldn't feel his body slamming against the person. Couldn't feel their legs being tangled together.

What he could feel, however, was the person's head hitting his when they made contact with the floor. How his nose bumped roughly against the other's nose. How he tried moving himself to avoid the noses being squashed.

How this slight move had somehow meshed their lips together…

And it didn't help that their shocked expression had widened both their lips. Or how Naruto felt the strong force of gravity pulling his tongue down towards the other's mouth out of pure surprise.

The tongues made contact.

Naruto could taste the other's mouth: hot and surprisingly sweet.

He pulled back quickly just as the other tried to push him away. Naruto stared in complete horror. The person was none other than Uchiha Sasuke. The one he had blatantly ran towards amidst his anger. The one who had taken his first kiss…

When he took notice of that last thought, he quickly tried to spit out the remains from their last 'contact'. He saw that the other was doing the same. This was not happening, he thought, this was not happening! How could he lose his first kiss to Uchiha? A guy? Then, something hit him. He raised his head and saw the shocked faces of the audience. Everyone had seen the incident. EVERYONE from the ENTIRE SCHOOL had seen the incident. Either that, or the school had a lot of students because from his low position, he could see the hundreds of bodies packed together to form a large circle around them.

He wanted to die.

No, he needs to be dead.

Tension filled the corridor as everyone anticipated what would happen next. When he refused to move and he sensed Sasuke staying the same, he heard a faint laughter. Then, some more; until he could feel that everyone was laughing at him or 'them'. It was like the volume of speakers. Little at first, until you adjust it and the noise covers the entire room. Amongst all the unknown voices, however, he heard one quite familiar. This surprised him. He was new, how could he recognise…

He looked at the direction towards the classroom. Standing in the doorway, having full view was that teacher Kakashi. No doubt, laughing the loudest amongst all the students. Or was it only students? Sighing, Naruto lost the energy to wonder. He felt that all his life's bad luck could not compete with what little time he had spent with that damn Sasuke.

He suddenly felt death nearing him for some reason. That's weird, he thought, why would…He turned to the general direction. He nearly froze dead on the spot. A bunch of girls were standing together with murderous glares in their eyes. What was worse was they were directing the glares at _him. _In a panic, he looked around trying to find a place to hide, but there was nowhere to go. He had suffered a lot from girl's wraths in the past. Somehow, they all liked to vent their angers at him and this time it was no different. It never crossed their minds, or everyone else's, that he was just as much of a victim in the whole situation. They started approaching him, and if looks could kill, he would've died 18 times and suffering in the pits of hell already. Just when they were getting too close and Naruto could've sworn that he wouldn't be able to see light again, the bell saved him. Or rather, the person who stood in front of him just as the bell let off saved him. "That's enough, girls. Get to class."

I guess Kakashi isn't so bad after all, Naruto thought. The girls eventually dispersed along with the crowd and he was content that he could hold on to his life that much longer. He sighed and lifted himself up. Of course, that last thought didn't last long when his eyes drifted down to the figure on the floor. Sasuke hadn't moved and the look he gave Nartuo was worse than all those girls combined. Realisation suddenly dawned on him and he scolded himself. Why the hell am I scared? I am clearly a victim in this part as well. He gathered everything in him and matched the boy's stare with his. Dangerous sparks flew between them, neither one faltering.

_'You want a rumble, Sasuke? Bring it on!'_

TBC…

A/N: Sorry if it seems a bit rushed. I suddenly had a powerful urge to post something up and decided I must do it before I go to bed. So what do you guys think??? Comments and criticisms are welcome.


	2. Misfortune

Disclaimer: Naruto's characters are not mine.

This is a SasuNaru fic, meaning, YAOI. You have been warned!

Something Simple: 

It wasn't common for Kakashi to find a student of his interesting. In fact, of the entire class, only a few grabbed his attention. So when something –or rather _someone_, caught his eye, he'd never, for the life of his, let this person go. He was going to torment him. In ways so cruel he wasn't even quite sure what it'd actually be.

Uzumaki Naruto. The name somehow rang a bell in his head, but he didn't know what it was that caused him to find it so familiar. However, Kakashi wasn't one to think too deep in matters so he quickly ignored it, rather concerned with facing current issues. He had saw –and saw quite well, the incident that would be the topic of conversation for months to come. Everything that concerned a certain Uchiha Sasuke had always had this effect, but it wasn't the latter that Kakashi was thinking about. It was Naruto, the main cause of the up stir. The kid had, within 10 minutes, made the entire school know his presence; made the female population his enemy; and had made a usually composed and emotionless Uchiha lose the aforementioned characteristics –something that had never happened before.

So, yes, Kakashi was interested. Deeply intrigued to be correct. He had finally found two _interesting_ students finding each other a nuisance. And Kakashi was happy that he'd have some entertainment for once. After all, teachers lived such boring lives they _need_ to have some amusement to keep their sanity intact.

And because of this, it was obvious why he had stepped in and saved the boy from the female's wrath - he couldn't let his lead role die before the show even started. And it was obvious why he had broken the two's 'staring contest'. Everyone was leaving and shows _needs_ audiences

So, he ushered the two in class, making note that they were still at each other's throats; throwing insults at one another, kicking each other, and raising their fists threateningly as if to prove a point. And Kakashi noticed the stares and loud whispers as they saw Naruto walk in, nevertheless, into Sasuke's seat. And Sasuke, sitting in Shikamaru's one forcing a very unhappy Shikamaru to take another's seat and the others doing the same. Until, the entire seating arrangement was changed, oblivious to the still fuming blonde.

 He smiled inwardly. Yes, this was going to be a _very_ exciting year.

----

He walked, rather reluctantly, towards the front. He just remembered, thanks to Kakashi, that he needed to do the 'new student introduction' speech. He could feel the evil stares directed at him and he tried hard to ignore them. As he approached the front, he was about to begin when he noticed that everyone was trying to ignore him. They seemed to be trying to say that they couldn't care less about his introduction speech –they don't even want to _know_ him at all.

He shot a glance at Sasuke, one of the few who were actually looking at him. The boy was still staring at him heatedly and he would've returned it if not for hearing Kakashi speak. "You can begin now, Naruto." Taking in a deep breath, Naruto began.

"Hi, my name's Uzumaki Naruto. I've just transferred from Byusai College. The subjects I'm doing are English, Literature, History, Math Methods, Chemistry and P.E. Hopefully I'll see some familiar faces in there and…nice to meet you all." With that, Naruto bowed a respectful bow and was about to go back to his seat when he saw the amused look on his teacher's face.

"Well, you'll be seeing one if not a few familiar faces in your class for sure," Kakashi said. Naruto was confused. What did he mean? Kakashi suddenly turned to face someone. He followed his gaze, and saw that the whole class was staring at one person in particular. Naruto's heart stopped. "If my memory served me right, I think Sasuke is doing five of the six subjects you just mentioned. It's pretty rare that student's subjects would come so close to each other's. But, what can I say? It must be fate." He turned to smile at Naruto. "I'm sure you'll be good friends in no time." Naruto detected a hint of sarcasm in his voice but let it go. He was stunned, to say the least, and he saw that Sasuke was the same, though he had averted his gaze towards his own table.

It never really occurred to Naruto that the Gods had actually hated him. Even with all those injustices he had suffered from, he'd always thought that they had been kind enough not to punish with anything harsher. But, until now, he finally realised that the Gods not only hated him, but wants him to die and live some place out of their line of vision –hell.

He walked back to his seat and sat down.

----

Sasuke walked out of class in a hurry. English had been a pain. That damn Kakashi had spent the whole lesson talking about homosexual relationships and their position in society. It seemed that his intent was to hint something very clearly towards him, giving him the wink every five minutes during the discussion. And to no surprise, some male classmates of his had repeatedly turned around and looked at him funnily and laughed that suppressed laugh of theirs. He wanted to kill that man.

No one seemed to take notice that the whole thing was an accident and now accused him of being gay. He'd even receive some notes being passed to him with that same question on it. Ino, that obsessed freak of his, had even looked at him with a dramatically hurt expression on her. The whole situation was insane, and the cause of this insanity? One Uzumaki Naruto.

Sasuke had never been annoyed at someone so much in his entire life. But this guy was sure to make him his first. With what little time he had spent with Naruto, he was sure he'd known everything of the boy. He was loud, rude, and ill mannered. Suddenly remembering the lecture he received from the said boy, he scoffed to himself. The boy was a hypocrite too.

Thus, Sasuke hastily walked to his next class. A class that he knew wouldn't have a certain Naruto in it. To say that he was surprised when he heard the latter's subject names was an understatement. He had pinched himself several times to make him realise he was not dreaming. However, Sasuke hadn't lost hope that although they did do five subjects the same, the classes they'd get into would be different. After all, each subject had two classes, and he had a 50 –50 chance that they won't land in it together. Hopefully.

All things left aside, he entered his Specialist Maths class. A subject he had rationalised that Naruto had no brains for. He had once hated this class, but for now he was glad. So what if the girls in there annoyed him till no tomorrow –they weren't as worse as Naruto. And so what if a certain Haruno Sakura practically drooled on him when she came to ask for help (he often wondered if that girl was just using that as an excuse to get close to him –she had aced all her tests) –he wouldn't have to face Naruto.

So, when he heard the all-too-familiar cry of the girls, he told himself that it was all good. Naruto wasn't there; everything would be all right. But with this thought, Sasuke suddenly realised something. His mind was constantly being plagued by a

Uzumaki Naruto. This would've been normal for some, but to him, it simply wasn't.

Let's just say, Uchiha Sasuke was a person who cared for no one beside himself. He never thought twice when someone attempted to irritate him. This isn't to say, he didn't take notice. He took notice all right; like those girls who'd edge too close to him until it was obvious that they were trying to mould themselves with him. Or how they'd stare and stare until he finally gave them a cold look, which they'd take it as a friendly one. Yes, Sasuke notices these things. But, this was all left in class; when class was dismissed, he'd forget about it –or them. However, this time, even with Naruto's presence gone, he still remembered.

And this frightened him.

TBC…

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I hope this chapter isn't as boring as I think it is. It took me a while to think of it, but since this part is done, everything else should run smoothly now. Oh, and forgive me with Naruto's 'introduction' speech. I wasn't quite sure the japs usually say in it. Also, I wasn't quite sure how many subjects they do…so I just guessed. Hope it didn't seem awkward. As always, comments and criticisms are welcomed.


	3. First warning

Disclaimer: Naruto's characters are not mine.

Warnings: This is a SasuNaru fic, meaning, YAOI. Also, extreme OOCness and a whole heap of grammatical errors gone undetected.

A/n: thanks heaps for the kind reviews!

**Something Simple:** Chapter three 

The bell signalling for lunch went off. It had been a long two periods for Naruto and he was glad that it was finally over. So, it had happened. Kakashi had seriously jinxed him and he was wondering, again, if the God's really hated him that much.

----

Naruto had stepped into third period with the hope that his day would gradually become better. His Literature class didn't contain a certain boy he didn't want to see and he took it as a good sign. He hadn't minded that no one had taken the effort to talk to him then. He was used to it and had even seen it coming. After all, wasn't his English class the same? Thus, even when he spent the whole 50 minutes in silence, with no one to even inform him of what was going on, he was, nevertheless, content.

However, as Naruto did enter his Methods class, he saw, yet again, the familiarly piercing gaze directed at him. He had taken a good five minutes to adjust to his situation and had cursed (rather colourfully) at his life for the fifth time that morning. So, Uchiha Sasuke was in his class. _Again_?

He quietly sat down in his seat, intending to be unnoticed. Not saying a word; not attempting to answer any questions. This way, he thought that no trouble would come. But, through experience, Naruto should've known that whenever he wished for something, the opposite would always occur for him and so he shouldn'tve been shocked to find that within 10 minutes into class, he and Sasuke had somehow gotten into a heated argument.

He didn't even know how it happened. One minute, the teacher was asking him something, and the next thing he found Sasuke interjecting. He had realised not long since their encounter, that everything Sasuke said would somehow get on his nerves. Therefore, it was only natural that when Sasuke corrected, Naruto just _had_ to fight back. Besides, who in their right minds knew that the derivative of cos would be the _inverse_ of sin? Naruto hadn't learnt it before, and Sasuke should've been more polite in contradicting him. But, as it was, the two stubborn students had argued it out. _Argued_ about something as insignificant as the positive and negative signs of sin. It was a display of such idiocy that the class found it rude _not_ to laugh, most particularly, at Naruto.

But Naruto had taken revenge. After all, he was one for minor details and was a quick learner. He couldn't find it more amusing that Sasuke would answer questions wrongly in the trigonometric equations when he was asked. Or maybe, he just didn't give the boy time to correct himself before he intervened. Any hows, he had seen the embarrassed look (or was it an angry look?) on Sasuke's face and he was more than thrilled. But this soon resulted to Sasuke fighting back and he realised that, maybe, the boy _was_ smarter than him after all. Half the things Sasuke said, he hadn't even _heard_ of!

----

He felt himself grow restless as he approached the door. It had taken him a lot in focusing on Sasuke's mistakes especially when he didn't excel in Maths and the boy had made so little. Nevertheless, he was proud of himself when he did pick up the right ones, although, right now he was more interested in filling his already empty stomach. As he was about to exit, however, he hit his shoulders into someone else's. Turning, he found, once again, Sasuke's face in his line of vision.

"Fuck off, Sasuke!"

"You get lost, idiot."

Naruto rolled his eyes. He didn't really want to make a scene. Besides, he really doubted he had the energy. So, he opted for a peaceful solution.

"Look, you dumb fuck. I was here first so let me through."

He saw the incredulous look on the boy's face as his eyes swept past him.

"_I_ was here first," he heard the dangerously low tone.

"No, _I_ was. Now, are you gonna move, or what?" Naruto asked tiredly but the boy didn't budge.

In the corner of his eye, Naruto saw the few students behind them, waiting patiently to get through. He had had enough of the boy to last him for a lifetime and he didn't need anymore of this rubbish. So, out of instinct or bad nature or whatever, he lifted his books up and whacked the boy with it. He heard the loud impact the heavy textbook made with the boy's head and the shocked gasps behind him. Naruto had never done anything so rash and violent before and he should've felt guilty for it. However, maybe because it was done to a certain Uchiha, he found himself no guilt at all. And, as he saw the gap between them, he quickly made a dash for it.

Not long, though, something hard hit him on the back of his head and he fell down for the second time that day. This time, however, no one was there to ease his fall and a sharp pain shot through his skull as he made contact with the floor. He got up and quickly turned around.

----

Sasuke swore, in his whole 17 years of existence, that he had never seen anyone as annoying as the blond haired boy in front of him. It was obvious to everyone in the room just who stood at the door first. But the imbecile just had to be so blind and accuse _him_ of pushing in!

He felt the blood running through his hair and dripping at the side of his face and cursed the fool for using the abnormally heavy Maths book on him. Naruto was staring at him now, a little wide eyed, and, due the recent fall, Sasuke noted that Naruto's forehead was also bleeding. He took the look as a sign of regret, but that didn't interfere with what he was about to do next. The boy had hurt him and he was going to pay. _Bad_.

He lunged forward and placed a hard punch on the blond's face. Before the boy could react, he grabbed the boy's shirt to halt his fall. With another powerful punch, he landed it in the boy's stomach. In the background, he could hear the students cheer, but he paid them no heed. He was fighting for himself, damnit, not for their amusement! However, as quickly as it began, it stopped, as he felt strong hands pulling them apart. He looked up to see who the intruder was.

It was Kakashi. And he was…laughing?

----

Kakashi couldn't suppress his laugh. So, the two had now decided to resort to bashing each other up. Things were progressing faster than what he'd imagined. Not that he was _complaining_.

"I'm very disappointed in you two," he said, obvious that the ingenuity of that statement could easily be detected. He _had_ been laughing at them just a moment ago. He heard a grunt from Sasuke and he suddenly saw the bloody look on Naruto's face. He slightly winced at the damage the former had done to the boy.

"Gee, Sasuke. You didn't need to go all out on him." Sasuke looked away.

"I could've done worse."

He heard some shuffling in the direction of the other boy.

"Sasuke, you bastard! You punched me twice!" the boy screamed.

"Yeah?" the other replied nonchalantly, "I'm surprised you can count." Kakashi pushed the two as far away from each other as he could when he felt Naruto trying to charge forward. Even if he did enjoy this little charade, he didn't want to be sued for negligence if one of them ended up dead.

"Look, guys," he tried to fake tiredness, "we're going to the principle's office."

Kakashi dragged the two boys along the corridors, ignoring all the stares coming in their direction. Not long later, they approached the said office and gave a loud entrance.

"Tsunade san! These two boys were found fighting in the corridors!" Kakashi yelled. He could see the lady wince from his volume and he secretly tried to suppress the smirk that was about to form.

"What're their names?" she asked in a bored tone after her recovery.

"Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto," he answered proudly. Though, he didn't quite know why.

"Uchiha Sasuke?" she asked incredulously. "What the hell is Uchiha Sasuke doing here?"

"He initiated a fight with Uzumaki Naruto, Tsunada san!" He sounded like a soldier even to himself. Tsunade looked at the dark haired boy closely.

"Did you," she began, " initiate a fight with that boy?" Her gaze went to Naruto, confirming that she was talking about the latter.

"No," Sasuke said flatly. "He started it."

Tsunade seemed pleased as she resumed her original position.

"Well then," she said gaily. "You can go now."

Kakashi really wasn't one who liked corruptness and blatant biasness. Even if he was one himself, it didn't mean he approved of its evilness. He found himself looking at the other boy, feeling quite sorry for him that he would have to suffer from such unjust verdicts. Though, he had no intention to help. Seriously, it wasn't any of _his _business, right? And it wasn't like Tsunade didn't _see_ the boy's bashed up face. However, even if Kakashi admitted that he was no morally good hero, he _did_ end up doing something in defence of the boy. He gave Tsunade the most deadly greazie he could muster.

"B-But ma'am," Naruto stuttered, " you can't just do that. I mean, look what he did to me!" He tried to point out the obvious signs of his distress. Kakashi couldn't help but feel greater pity for him.

"Look, kid. You're worse as it is starting a fight in this friendly school environment." She paused, as if trying to remember something. "Ah! You're that new kid, yeah? I thought I've told you about the rules of this school at our last appointment. Don't tell me you've forgotten them already?"

There was a shrug on the other's side.

"You'd better not. And if I remembered right, I've also told you that if you disobeyed any of those rules, you'd be automatically kicked out after the first warning. This is your first warning."

Kakashi stared at the lady; this was getting a bit too far. He could even sense that Sasuke was shocked with the outcome.

"You don't need to attend the last two classes. Go to room 301 for an hour's detention. I think someone's already in there. If there's nothing else, you're all dismissed."

"Ma'am," he heard Sasuke's voice. "It wasn't entirely his fault."

"No, Sasuke kun. You don't need to defend him." She turned to look at the unusually quiet boy. "I'm sure you understand that we were kind enough to have let you in." The voice was calm. Kakashi looked at Naruto and was shocked to see that he's face was down, like young children receiving a harsh lecture from their parents. "You're grades had been excellent and under normal circumstances the scholarship awarded to you would not have been be disputed. However, you must realise that with you're background, we had been very lenient on you. You would've missed out if we didn't decide to give you a chance."

There was an opening and Naruto filled it in with a "yes ma'am".

Tsunade sighed. She seemed tired and maybe, a little bit, guilty? for what she said. Kakashi couldn't understand all this. Even with the corruptness of the school, they had never been so harsh on a student before. He was sure that the financial state of Naruto had nothing to do with the whole situation; there was something else. But he just couldn't figure out what it was.

"Many parents had feared you and have even threatened to remove their children from our school. I hope you appreciate what you have and I wish you would not try to jeopardise this chance given to you again, _Uzumaki_."

Uzumaki, Kakashi thought, that name was awfully familiar.

Naruto gave a solemn nod. "Very well, you're dismissed."

The two boys were beginning to exit and he followed suit. It was quiet between the two. He took a guess that Sasuke was probably feeling a bit shocked and guilty from the outcome. No matter how the boy managed his mask of indifference, Kakashi knew that, deep down, he wasn't as bad as other's believed him to be. He was like every other kid, capable of feeling, but his refusal of displaying them made him that much different.

As they made a fair distance away from the office, Sasuke tried to apologise. "Hey, Naruto" he said, " I…er…I'm sorry." The boy didn't even bother turning around.

"Fuck off Uchiha."

Given Naruto's situation, it should have been understandable that he was pissed off at the boy. However, given _Sasuke's_ situation, Naruto had been a bit too rude. Kakashi had never heard the stoic boy apologise to anyone in all the years he had known him. Clearly, it wasn't the boy's fault, thus, the apology could've been considered… unneeded. He didn't really do anything wrong, and he couldn't help it that Tsunade had given Naruto the unfair warning. Therefore, when Kakashi had actually heard it, he was damn right shocked about it. _Didn't Sasuke _hate_ the boy?_

Then, suddenly, like lightening striking in the semi-darkness, he finally realised what it was that was so familiar about the Uzumaki name. And he understood why Tsunade had said those harsh words. Everything had finally come to make sense.

He looked at Naruto's form turning a curve, heading towards the direction of room 301. Kakashi felt a stab of guilt for not standing up for the boy earlier as the latter disappeared. Though, he knew that even if he did, there wouldn't be much of a difference. He could feel the curious stare from Sasuke, but he ignored him. _Why hadn't he known it earlier?_ He scolded himself. _How could he have not remembered?_

A good five minutes passed, but Kakashi couldn't find himself to move.

TBC…

A/N: Ugh… I hate this chapter! I finally realised how hard it actually is to write an ongoing fic. To all you authors out there…how the hell do you do it???


	4. Perhaps a new friend

Disclaimer: Naruto's characters are not mine.

This is a SasuNaru fic, meaning, YAOI. You have been warned!

A/N: I am absolutely amazed at the kind reviews I've received. Thankyou SO much! I've tried very hard to bring about this chapter and wanted to fit the revelation in here, but…I cant. : ( I realised it'd be too long and an absolute bore if you guys have to read it. So I've decided that it'll be in the next chapter. HOWEVER, this chapter is important too, so you must read! Not that any chapter I write isn't important to the story 0 it's supposed to be light hearted (sort of) and yeah….READ IT! : )

Here we go then…

Something Simple: **Chapter four**

It was a clear, sunny afternoon. The sky was an amazing blue and not a cloud could be seen. Shikamaru looked through the class windows and found himself smiling at a particular thought. _'Didn't the forecast say it was going to be a cloudy day with potential rain?' _He made a mental note never to trust the updates again.

The door suddenly opened and Shikamaru turned, expecting to see a teacher. It was about time too; he'd been sitting in the empty classroom for 10 minutes already and he needed something to do. However, instead of a teacher, Shikamaru saw that it was another student. The boy had blond hair and his face was bruised. But he knew who it was.

"Yo! Naruto, yeah?" he asked. The boy looked at him, seemingly surprised.

"How did you…?" He walked towards him and sat one seat away. Shikamaru gave him a weird look

"I'm in you're English and Lit class. And I was here in the morning."

"Oh," Naruto managed to say. Shikamaru detected a blush forming amongst the badly bruised face. He looked uncomfortable about the topic and Shikamaru quickly tried to change it.

"So," Shikamaru began, "why are you here?" He smiled when he saw Naruto relax.

"Ah. I… er, got into a fight."

The answer was obvious with the boy's state and Shikamaru really wasn't interested to know whom it was with. But he found himself asking anyway, afraid that the little conversation would die out. "With who?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

He gave Naruto a sympathetic smile. "I see." The boy looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"No one ever gets a fair judgement against Uchiha. I'd presume you were the only one punished and he left without even a lecture on his part?" Naruto was wide eyed.

"How'd you know?"

"Ah, the ignorance of a newbie," Shikamaru said, not intending to be condescending. "His dad is a big sponsor of the school's. Nearly everything that you see was paid for by Mr. Uchiha. That's why he can get away with anything." Then, as an afterthought, he added, "Though, he rarely does much anyway."

The door opened again and both boys looked at the intruder. It was a male teacher and he carried with him a pile of papers. He approached the two students and halved the sheets. "Finish these and then you may go." He dropped the two piles on their tables and Shikamaru winced when he noticed that there were more than 30 sheets there.

"Sir," Shikamaru said, "I was only meant to be here for half an hour."

"I don't care," came the lazy reply. "Don't finish, don't leave." He reached inside his back pocket and took out another sheet of paper. "Nara Shikamaru…" he ticked off the name. He looked at the other boy. "And your name is?"

"Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto replied.

Shikamaru saw the teacher tense. A frightened look on his face before it was quickly replaced by a look of hatred. The teacher reached over his table and took another half of it and placed it on Naruto's pile. Shikamaru looked on in confusion.

"Finish these before you go, _Uzumaki_," he said menacingly. After that, he ticked off Naruto's name and left the room.

Naruto's face was down and he held an expression Shikamaru couldn't read. _What the hell? _Shikamaru thought. _It's his first day and his already made enemies with a teacher?_ Naruto suddenly turned to face him and smiled. "Do you have a pen?"

Shikamaru couldn't believe his ears.

"Wait a minute," he said, trying to digest what was happening. "That teacher came in and gave you nearly 50 pages of work to correct, and you're not even _complaining_?" The boy gave him another friendly smile.

"You have 30 minutes of detention. I have an hour."

"That's not the point!" Shikamaru heard himself say incredulously. "Besides, they belong to the sophomore year, their mistakes are difficult to detect. It'd be a miracle if you got out in two." Naruto turned back to his pile and studied it. Then he turned back, facing him again.

"It's only reading." Shikamaru gave him a shocked look before he reached inside his pocket for a spare pen.

"You're crazy." Then, as if considering something important, he reached out and grabbed back the pile the teacher took of his. "You better be grateful."

----

Uchiha Sasuke found himself unable to concentrate in his Chemistry class. His thoughts kept wondering to a certain blond haired boy and the events that happened earlier. Why did the principal punish so harshly and what did she mean when she said that they were being "lenient"? Even Kakashi, the lazy idiot who doesn't know anything, seems to be hiding something from him.

He looked out the window, growing tired of wondering and being the ignorant one. The sky was a clear blue and his thoughts suddenly went to the one whose eyes held the same colour. As that thought registered, he blinked a few times. _Why am I thinking about that idiot? And how the hell did I know that his eyes were that shade?_

He looked back to his teacher explaining the experiment they were to do in the next period; his ears tuned in to what he was saying. _Maybe it's better if I just listened to this crap instead. _

----

Shikamaru stared in disbelief. Only 20 minutes passed, and Naruto was already half way through his pile.

"Are you really reading the essays, or are you just ticking however you like?" The boy looked puzzled.

"Why would you say that?"

"Because I'm only up to my third essay and you're half-way finished? You know, the teachers do check it just to make sure we did a proper job. If they find out you're just carelessly correcting, they'll make you sit another detention and fix the whole thing again!" Naruto chuckled.

"I'm really correcting. You can check if you want."

Shikamaru reached out to the offered paper. Scanning some lines, he was, yet again, shocked to find that all the corrections made were done accurately and precisely.

"How the hell?"

"I write a lot at home. So I kind of trained myself to edit faster. Not that it covers all the mistakes, but I guess these don't really matter as much." He gave a sheepish grin. "I'm starving." As if on cue, Naruto's stomach growled loudly and he blushed an embarrassing red. Shikamaru smiled.

"You want to be a writer, hey?" he asked. Naruto nodded enthusiastically.

"Yep."

They resumed working and not long later, Naruto's pile was done. Shikamaru saw a hand reach over his own pile and he turned to see Naruto giving him a cheeky grin. "You better be grateful," he said and Shikamaru couldn't help but laugh. Naruto's good nature was getting to him and it seemed that even at times like these, he'd still manage to joke around.

Not long after sixth period began, Shikamaru and Naruto started to organise the essays in alphabetical order. When that was done, they placed the pile on the desk at the front of the class. "The teacher will come and collect it half way through this period," Shikamaru said.

"You're experienced…" Naruto said as they walked out of the classroom. "Do you always have detentions?"

"Sort of," replied Shikamaru.

"Why's that?"

"Dunno. Think 'cos I always sleep in class or something." Naruto stared at him in disbelief.

"Why the hell would you do that?"

"Teachers are boring. And paying attention is too troublesome." Naruto laughed and Shikamaru saw that the bruise on Naruto's face was slowly fading. "Hey, you heal pretty fast," he couldn't help but point out. Naruto touched his face.

"Really?" He shrugged it off anyway. "What're we doing now?"

"Eat?" Naruto's face lit up.

"Ramen? I know this place that's _really_ good!"

Shikamaru didn't understand why the boy was so excited, but he nodded anyway. "Sure," he said and followed the boy outside.

----

Sasuke concentrated pouring the nitrogen solution in the test tube. His partner was carefully observing, getting ready to mark down the results. As expected, the liquid in the tube bubbled and the girl –Hinata, was it? –quickly jotted down her observations. He went and grabbed the final solution to add to the experiment. It was sulphuric acid, and he remembered the teacher warning everyone to be careful because of its dangerous properties. Ever so gently, Sasuke began to pour it's content into the tube. As he was doing that, he suddenly heard a person's laughter. The distant voice was familiar and he looked out the open window to see who it was. Even though they were on the third level, Sasuke couldn't mistake the mop of blond hair belonging to none other than Uzumaki Naruto. He saw that there was someone else with him but he couldn't make out the other person. The laughter continued; it sounded carefree and genuine. He continued to stare at the two leaving the school grounds and was brought back only by his partner's screams.

"S-S-Sasuke, y-your h-hand!" He looked down and saw that the acid was spilt and some had come in contact with his hand during his few seconds of inattention. The burning pain was slowly getting in on his senses as he felt the teacher and what seemed like the whole class surrounding him. In a daze, he heard the teacher say something like, "I told you to be careful!" and the others repeatedly asking if he was okay.

He tried to look at it more, ignoring the new thoughts coming in. He was lucky that it was only minor and not much damage had been done. He concentrated hard on the blood escaping the wound, but his mind still drifted to the one place he didn't want it to go. _What was he doing with him? Why did he seem so happy? What was he so happy about? _It was crazy, he knew, but the questions just wouldn't leave him. He felt someone leading him out of class –probably to the medical room –but he couldn't feel it happening. He couldn't feel his legs moving; couldn't feel him being dragged along; couldn't _see _who the person was. Instead, he continued on staring at his hand, his gaze never once leaving. _Who was he with?_

Amongst all the absurdity, Sasuke still managed to grasp onto a little sanity of his. He knew that he was thinking too much on the situation. But the problem was, he didn't know why. Why was he paying so much attention on Naruto, anyway? Why was he so absorbed? _How_ could he be so careless?

His wound was slowly being bandaged, but Sasuke couldn't feel anything.

TBC…

A/N: okay…I'm no chemistry genius, so that sulphuric acid thing being dangerous came simply from the acid part, which I _know_ is dangerous. Hehe Er…so, what did you think about the lighthearted aim of mine? Did it work? Comments and criticisms welcome.


	5. All's out

Disclaimer: Naruto's characters are not mine.

This is a SasuNaru fic, meaning, YAOI. You have been warned!

A/N: I'm sooooo sorry for the slow update! I tried to write it earlier, but I kept delaying it, and then I just…forgot. Sorry! Anyhoos…this is the next chapter. My apologies now if this fic is similar to any other fics published. I haven't read a lot of Naruto fics so I wouldn't know if this idea has been taken. But seriously…it's so twisted I doubt anyone has!

On with it then, and please excuse the rush-ness involved.

Something Simple: **Chapter five**

Naruto bid Shikamaru farewell as he got off the train. It was nearly 9:00 and both had decided to call it a night. After eating ramen at Ichiraku's, the boys had bummed around the city all day long doing nothing in particular. Both had enjoyed each other's company and both had had fun. 

Naruto walked down the empty street towards his little apartment. The streetlights were poorly lit during this time, but his mind didn't take in any of it. He reflected on his day, his mind re-playing all the events. Naruto had seriously believed nothing good would come after such an extreme run of bad luck. He had made enemies with the wrong person, his first warning was already out, and the whole school seemed to hate him for a _very _wrong reason. But as it was, good things come when you least expect it to, and Naruto now believed that, maybe, this year wouldn't be like all those other years. Sure, people still hated him, but he had a friend now, didn't he? He only knew Shikamaru for a day, but he felt that he could depend on the boy. And he definitely didn't seem the type to betray friendships.

He climbed up the stairs to the little place he called home. Fumbling around a moment for the keys, he stuck it in the tiny keyhole when he found it and twisted it in a whole circle before pushing it forward. The familiar smell of his apartment greeted his senses as he walked in, bag thrust to the side. The place was small. It only took one look to see the entire place. A door at the back corner led to the bathroom and only a semi wall separated what was the kitchen and lounge. Naruto never complained about the size. Sure, it could be a bit bigger, but it was the only thing he could afford. Besides, it was already a godsend that someone was willing to lease it to him given that he was an Uzumaki and all. He really shan't complain.

He went to the cupboard and got out his futon. He was getting tired from all that walking and he really needed a rest. There was no homework for him since he only had four classes and the P.E uniform was already folded neatly for tomorrow's class. So, with a content grin still plastered on his face, Naruto fell into deep slumber.

----

He woke up in a reasonable time and noted that he would have exactly one minute to spare when he arrived at school. Naruto closed the door behind him, fresh from the morning shower and, this time, more comfortable in his sports uniform. He had memorised his timetable during breakfast, and seeing that he had Lit first in the morning, he couldn't wait to get there. Shikamaru had said that he was in his class and Naruto was excited about seeing his friend.

He walked down the street in a moderate pace, the happy mood never leaving him. As he entered the school gates, he saw that a number of people had already arrived, all clumped in groups, whispering secretly to each other. Naruto paid them no heed; he was too absorbed in his cheery thoughts. For if he did look around, he would see the dirty looks awarded to him; hear the colourful insults connected to his name. Then maybe, his mood would've changed.

In his oblivion, Naruto didn't see the figure approach him as he reached the entrance door. Didn't see the hand turning him around and the fist colliding with his cheek. The punch was powerful and he fell down immediately from the impact. Naruto looked up, searching for the culprit. His eyes landed on a boy -one he couldn't recognise -slowly being surrounded by other students.

"Fucking murderer!" Naruto's gaze widened. _No, it couldn't be. Not so fast!_ More students joined the circle and he suddenly felt a sense of dejavu. So the boy knew, and, by the looks of it, word had gone around. Naruto didn't get it. It was usually a couple of weeks before anyone knew about him, how could one day…?

The boy bent down and lifted him up. Naruto was awarded with another strong blow to his other cheek and before he could gain his senses, a heavy punch landed on his stomach. He let go of him and he fell on the concrete ground once more. Naruto only vaguely felt the pain as his mind still tried to recover from the initial shock. _How?_

"Uzumaki, right?" The boy's foot was on top of him, his body leaning forward. "I don't know why they didn't put you in the chamber like all the others. And to think that our tax payers' money has gone to support murderers like you." He scoffed, and spat disgustingly at him. "Don't you ever let me see your face again." A final press at his stomach and the boy left. Others followed suit, some throwing him the occasional spit and snickering loudly afterwards. Naruto just laid there, vulnerable to all the attacks.

He couldn't understand how word had gone so fast. Did rich people really know about everything? The pain in his body slowly attacked his senses and he winced. Perhaps he had been dreaming all along. The day wasn't going to be good for him. He had been a fool to believe that it'd actually turn out nice. Nothing good ever came to him, he should've gotten used to that by now. And Shikamaru? Maybe he should let go of that dream too.

----

For once, in all his years of schooling, Sasuke arrived late. And a lengthy 20 minutes too! He gravely walked towards the office for a late pass, trying not to think of the reason for his bizarre behaviour. The teacher in the office didn't as much as look at him when he approached and systematically did her job. She handed him the pass and he thanked her softly. As he walked past the medical room, he thought he heard a familiar cry of pain. He shook his head, trying to erase the thoughts. _You have _got_ to _stop_ thinking about him!_

A further distance down, and he reached his Specialist class. He knocked on the door and pushed it open. The class looked his way but he ignored them, in search of the teacher. "His gone to photocopy some notes," he heard someone inform him. He walked to his seat at the back of the room and sat down.

Just as he did, the girl who sat in front of him spun around. "Sasuke kun, why're you so late today?" that annoying girl, Sakura, asked. He gave her an annoyed look, willing her away. But she didn't budge. "Are you ill?" A hand went to reach for him but missed. He cheered inwardly for his good reflexes. A circle of female students soon found their way around his table and he knew that perhaps, his quiet morning wouldn't go as planned. 

The usual chattering ensued while Sasuke took out his needed equipment. Talks of the latest gossip, other people, and what they did the night before filled the air. Sasuke didn't understand how he had gotten into this position. His area contaminated by such annoying species. And yet, he had never told them off, never told them to shut their trap because he needed to do his work and because, really, he didn't care. He didn't care that the girl had a new pimple on her face or that the other had forgotten to bring her comb. Or even how someone had gotten into a fight with another earlier this morning. Couldn't they see he just wanted to be alone?

"Did you see what Kiba did to that Naruto?" His ears suddenly perked up at the name.

"Yeah, poor kid. He couldn't even defend himself."

"What do you mean 'poor'? He deserved it."

"I _know_. His an _Uzumaki_."

"So it's true, then? He really is a murderer?"

_Murderer?_

"Whose a murderer?"

Everyone looked at him, surprised that he spoke. He tried containing himself. There shouldn't be any hint of desperation there.

"Oh, you came late. Then you really missed out Sasuke kun."

"Yeah, Kiba kicked that boy's arse _so_ bad!"

_Kiba? Who's Kiba? And who the hell is the murderer?!_

He repeated his question again. "Whose a murderer?"

"Haven't you heard? Naruto? His a Uzumaki!

"What about it?" he asked.

The teacher found this time to walk in and the girls went back to their seats. For once Sasuke was disappointed that they left. _What about a Uzumaki? _Seeing him, the teacher marked off his name and handed out the photocopied sheets. And, perhaps to his luck, midway in his distribution, the teacher had realised that he had run short and excused himself. The teacher exited and he took hold of the chance. He tapped Sakura on the back.

He felt a pang of guilt as she turned around, a look of absolute happiness on her face. He was really using her, he realised, to find out about Naruto; and his conscience was beginning to argue against it. _Who cares about Naruto? He's nothing to you, anyway._ But he couldn't push aside his curiosity; he _needed_ to know this.

"What about Naruto?"

The girl's smile never left her lips as she answered. "He's a Uzumaki. Haven't you heard the Uzumaki name before?" He shrugged. She spun her body fully around.

"My mum told me that Uzumaki was a family of serial killers."

"Serial killers?" he repeated.

"Yeah.  Naruto's dad was one and his dad's dad and, probably, his dad's, dad's dad. His great-grandfather started it all really. He was married to this weird clairvoyant and, somehow they were cursed. They gave birth to Naruto's grandfather and he grew up to be one of the smartest people. But, somehow, when he reached the age of 25 he went ballistic and killed people at random. Some say it was because of his mother who fed him weird potions but I think that he was just seriously mental. You know, sick in the head?" She pointed a finger at her own head, trying to emphasise the point.

"Anyhows, he killed and yada, yada, yada. I think there was a total of 52 deaths? Some of the noblest men. You know the government at that time? Shizayuka Mizu? He was nearly killed if not for his men protecting him. But unfortunately, all his men died before he was captured. No one knows his motive. But I think he just hates people smarter than him.

"So, yeah. He had another son…"

Sasuke interrupted. "But when did he…? Didn't he get a death sentence?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you the gruesome part!" Her eyes grew wide. "His dad, who was Naruto's great-grandfather, died when he was about 5 so his mum raised him all alone. And, this is _so _disgusting…" she stuck her tongue out. "He slept with her mum! Ugh!"

Another girl from his side joined them. "I heard that the child was from a victim that he raped?" Sasuke looked at her and then back at Sakura.

"No," Sakura cried, "That was Naruto's dad!"

"Oh…"

"Anyways, Sasuke. They had a kid, _together_, and surprisingly he wasn't retarded. Or actually he was, since he took after his dad. Y'see, people tried forgiving him, him being a child and all. His mum, or grandma, or whatever, died after he was born and people felt sorry for him. It wasn't his fault that his dad killed, right? And since that woman wasn't around, no one would feed him potions and make him go all crazy. So, they let him in this orphanage and he grew up very healthy and very smart. People had high hopes for him, but some thought that he would be like his father, being smart and all. And they were right. Because when he left school at 17 with an IQ off the record, he started making weapons. And, like his father, he killed people at random. He killed, like double, what his father killed and he also raped women too. It took them a while before they captured him. 'Cos y'know, the government feared for his life and all. But yeah, they caught him and gassed him. He left a child though, Naruto; through a victim he raped. They couldn't do abortions then –it was 17 years ago. The government wanted to kill it –Naruto, that is –but some objected, saying it was immoral and all. His mother left him because she didn't want anything to do with him. And yeah, that's about it. Nobody really knows why both generations were so sinister. And some still believe that Naruto would be the same; repeat history and start taking innocent lives. I agree with that. Y'know, you can never be too careful."

The teacher walked in again and Sakura quickly turned around. Sasuke sat there, trying to digest what he had heard. _So, that was Naruto's past. Was Kiba's family a victim too, then? Was that why he started a fight?_ Sasuke didn't pay attention to any of the explanations the teacher did, too engross in his own thoughts. _Then the meaning of Tsunade? Was that it? Parents were afraid of having their children attending the same school as Naruto because of the chance that he'd repeat his family's actions? But…there wasn't any guarantee that he would do it, right? And it wasn't like it ran in the blood or something…_

As those thoughts registered, Sasuke suddenly realised that he was trying to _justify_ Naruto's presence. He really shouldn't now. He had spent the whole night thinking of the boy, he really should get tired already. But, as class continued, Sasuke found that it was the only thing he could do.

_God, there was definitely something wrong with him!_

TBC…


	6. Slight hint

Disclaimer: Naruto's characters are not mine.

This is a SasuNaru fic, meaning, YAOI. You have been warned!

A/N: It's 9:30 and I'm late for school. I have a bloody SAC today too!! Arghh… Anyways, just in case it was bugging you, rainstreaked-san (though I highly doubt it), I'm glad u pointed out my mistakes. That your-you're thing always pisses me off, but I promise I'll change the past chapters soon. Hopefully, this chapter had less of those mistakes. And with OOCness, I absolutely agree with you except that I HATE SAKURA! So yeah, that's definitely going to affect my writing of her in this fic. Though, she plays such a minor role in it anyway. OH, and I've changed the rating to PG like suggested!

(Huechi-san: I've mentioned SAC. Does it ring a bell? Hehe)

There might be a certain degree of rushness, so please bear with it. : P

****

**Something Simple: Chapter 6**

He vaguely remembered that lunch had already begun as he exited the medical room. The school nurse had been reluctant to tend his wounds at first, but as she witnessed the obvious pain he was suffering from, she felt a sense of duty overtake her. Naruto saw the stiffness in the nurse's movements when she treated him but he tried to ignore it. He was used to this sight, used to the tense atmosphere whenever someone was alone with him. Used to the intense hatred in their eyes. And though he stayed a bit too longer than she –or he –had expected, he didn't feel guilty at all. Yes, she had been uncomfortable with the presence of an Uzumaki in her room, but he couldn't care less. He didn't want to go out and face the many stares of disgust he knew that he would receive. He wasn't ready for that yet. Not when he had been taken off guard so badly just this morning.

But it had taken a surprising 4 and a half periods. And Naruto knew that he was seriously jeopardising his studies for not attending classes like this. It hadn't even been two days and he had skipped a total of 6 periods. He almost laughed. _That's exactly one whole day. _

Naruto walked down the empty corridors. Every other student was outside, hanging with friends, playing whatever sport they were playing, relaxing in their long needed break. And here he was, alone in the emptiness of a hallway. But perhaps it was supposed to be like this all along. Perhaps this world never had a place for someone like him…

He stopped mid step as his eyes traced the pair of feet to the left of him, a bit further down. He had been too absorbed in his thoughts previously to notice the figure leaning against the wall, arms crossed, as if waiting for him. He lifted his gaze and was met with a pair of dark, penetrating eyes. _Sasuke? What was he doing here?_

"Are you okay?" the voice was smooth and held no emotion. _Perhaps he was waiting for someone? _He looked around him but saw no one in sight. He shrugged. _Probably still in a room._

He walked on, ignoring the boy and the question that he wasn't even sure was directed at him or not. He didn't like the boy and he was sure that the boy didn't like him. There was no use pretending to care.

Just as he thought, Sasuke didn't even stop him as he walked past. He didn't even seem to move in the slightest. It was as if his passing by had been invisible, like it never even happened.

AndNaruto didn't know which hurt more –to be hated, or to be ignored like this.

----

Sasuke didn't know why he was standing where he was. All he could remember was his mind wondering where Naruto was; and then suddenly overhearing a conversation that he was most likely in the medical room being treated over his wounds. In all vagueness, he had arrived in front of the room, but had decided against going in to check him out. It would appear too abrupt, he had thought, and maybe, a little freaky? It wasn't as if they were friends or anything.

So, he decided to wait for him a little further away. Just a bit down the corridor where he knew that the boy would eventually come across. And then, he'd act normal and ask if he was all right. Smoothly, not showing any trace of concern, because if the boy suddenly asked him why he cared, he wouldn't have known how to answer him.

Thus, he waited. And waited some more until he had the sinking suspicion that, perhaps, the boy had already gone. Gone out for lunch like the rest of the students with that new friend of his. And maybe he was really an idiot to actually wait for him all this time. But as he heard the sudden footsteps headed towards his direction, that suspicion was quickly wiped away.

He saw the long, dragged steps the boy took; saw the thoughtful look on the boy's face. And, as their eyes met, the sad, mournful expression so readily on display. And Sasuke almost choked on his words when he said them aloud.

But he hadn't. And the boy didn't answer him. He didn't know whether to feel disappointed or not as he walked past acting as if the question didn't linger in the air. At that moment Sasuke really did feel like an idiot. He had came as soon as lunch bell rang, for once ignoring his starving stomach, and this was what he got? Not even a sign of acknowledgement from this boy.

He swore to himself that he hated him.

----

As Naruto entered the school gym, he knew, then and there, that the Gods hated his guts. P.E wasn't a subject he enjoyed much. Most likely, because it was part theory, part practical. Sure, he was all right with the theory section, but practical? He didn't possess any of those manly genes. Hell, he was worse than a friggin' girl if he was ever compared! He couldn't kick properly, couldn't run, couldn't catch, and his level of coordination really sucked. The school had chosen a random subject to fill his timetable gap and he didn't really have much of a choice over it since other classes were full. This was all fine to him since the end exam didn't consist of anything practical. But…

That boy was there.

Naruto had only seen him briefly in their short, painful encounter, but he could remember him quite clearly –him and his rough looking face, his well-built body, and the endless people flocking around. He was almost as popular as Sasuke, Naruto noted, which, as realisation struck, wasn't a good thing. If the boy wanted to start another fight with him, he'd have back up for sure. Not that him alone couldn't kick his arse anytime.

The boy seemed to sense his presence as he looked up from whatever he was doing and stared at him. When his mind registered just who he was, annoyance rushed through those eyes. It was almost murderous.

"What the fuck are you doing here!"

The room suddenly turned an eerie quiet as all attention went on them. Naruto stood rooted in his spot, unable to move. He didn't know what to do. Should he yell back and defend himself, or should he just keep quiet? He knew he wouldn't put up a good fight with the boy; the morning's punches had been too strong, too powerful for him to handle. Besides, hadn't he already received the first warning? If he caused any more trouble or was ever involved in any, he'd be kicked out for sure. He couldn't risk it. It was his final year, he couldn't risk fighting back and waste all those years of hard earned education.

"I asked, you fuckhead," the boy continued, "what the fuck you're doing here. Hasn't this morning's beatings taught you anything?" He slowly advanced towards him, sleeves rolled up as if prepared to start another fight. In the background, the class cheered him on. Unconsciously, Naruto placed a step backwards, fear gathering inside of him. _Shit_, he cursed, _what the _fuck_ do I do now?_

Just then, the door behind him slid open and the P.E teacher –he assumed –came in. "Class is starting," he announced monotonously. "Kiba, what are you doing?" The boy stopped in his advancements and gave Naruto a scowl. Reluctantly, he went back to his group of friends. Naruto gave a heavy sigh of relief. As the teacher walked to the centre of the class, he started again:

"Okay class, today we're going to be playing baseball. Before that, though, we'll have a quick warm up game. Any suggestions?" Some whisperings could be heard before Kiba immediately raised his hands.

"How 'bout dodge ball, sir?" he asked, a devilish glint in his eyes before the class agreed with him. The teacher seemed to be contemplating the suggestion before nodding.

"Alright then," he clapped his hands, " everybody to the storeroom to get the equipments. We need four balls for dodge ball, two baseballs, two base bats and gloves for fielding. Shinichi, you can be in charge." The boys walked towards the storeroom and Naruto couldn't help but shiver at the abnormally gleeful looks on his classmates faces. He knew that they were up to something but he didn't know what it was. Certainly they wouldn't use the game as an excuse to attack him. The teacher would be watching, right? With that, he quickly approached the teacher. If he doesn't play baseball, then he wouldn't need the warm up, true? Then nothing would –could ever happen.

The teacher turned around as he felt the tap on his shoulder. "Sir," he said quietly, "um, is it okay if I don't participate today? I don't feel too well." He tried pointing at the obvious wounds to prove himself. The teacher gave him a brief glance before looking back at him.

"No. I don't see anything wrong with you."

"But sir," he protested, "I…"

"Go get the things."

There was finality in his voice and Naruto knew that he'd have to participate no matter what. He reluctantly walked towards the room where everyone was when someone stood in front of him and blocked his way. He looked up and was met face to face with Sasuke. _Shit_, he thought, _not _anothe_r class?_

"What do you want now?" Naruto asked with annoyance. He was staring directly at him and he suddenly realised that they were both the same height. Their eyes were levelled and for once Naruto noticed just how dark the boy's pair was. It was a deep, almost sorrowful black. But there was something else in it; he just couldn't figure what it was.

"You're such a coward."

Naruto stood still, the words taking a while to sink in. When it finally hit him, he almost shrieked aloud. "I'm not a fucken coward!" He narrowed his eyes, total anger threatening to burst. _Why did he have to be so annoying?_

"You act it," came the cold retort. He walked past him; right shoulder pushing hardly against his to get through. Naruto spun around prepared to cry out any insults he could possibly think of at that time when Kiba's face came to view.

"Don't even think about it, Uzumaki." He gave a smirk. "It's bad enough you've poisoned him with some of your germs. Lay another finger on him and die." His eyes narrowed dangerously and behind him Naruto saw Sasuke stopping in his tracks.

"Back off Kiba," came the low tone. Kiba twisted around to face him.

"Sasuke, you don't need this little punk giving you shit. I'll help you take care of him. He's a weakling anyway."

The boy gave him an almost murderous glare. "I said, back off."

Naruto couldn't suppress his laughter as he looked on. "_I'm_ a coward? Sasuke, you're the one needing help from this jerk."

"Who's the jerk?"

Naruto knew all too well that he was no match for Kiba, but for some reason the fear from before wasn't there anymore. It was like he could see properly now; the cloud in his vision earlier had cleared off. In front of him stood a guy who was the same as all the others. A stuck up to the Uchiha, nothing but a bundle of muscles and bones. Sure the boy had the threat of bashing him up, but Naruto was used to all that shit. Besides, his body had a miraculous healing ability that never left wounds linger too long. Perhaps all those beatings he suffered from did him some good. His body had adapted to the never-ending wounds and was automatically in healing mode. He found himself smiling. And to think that just a moment ago he was shitting himself? What was he thinking!

"Who's the jerk?" repeated an angry Kiba.

"Obviously you. And why don't you try minding your fucking business? It had nothing to do with you in the first place."

The boy's eyes widened. "What did you say?"

Naruto was about to retort when he saw the teacher's hand separating the both of them. "Enough. Go outside now! It's bad enough you're not helping out with the equipments. Behave yourselves before I send you both home."

Kiba gritted his teeth angrily before stomping off. "You watch it," Naruto heard from the retreating form. He gave a little victory smile before he followed suit. Midway, though, he saw the teacher and Sasuke at the corner of his eyes and being the curious that he was, he slowed down.

"Sasuke, you can be excused from the game. That head injury looks serious and it's not like you can bat properly with one hand. I don't want to hear complaints from Tsunade that I was torturing you or anything." The teacher chuckled softly.

"It's fine, sensei. I can play."

"No, I insist. Please don't argue with me."

After a moment, they, too, exited the gym. Naruto couldn't believe his ears. Just before, the teacher had dismissed his injuries without giving it a second glance and now, that _Sasuke_ gets special treatment! It wasn't fair.

He stomped his foot and held his hand in a tight fist near his chest. The act making him look almost too childish. _Damn Sasuke to hell!_

----

He was sitting at the benches away from everyone. The damn teacher had thought him incapable of playing a lousy game of baseball, thus, making him sit watching at the cruel act in front of him. It was a crappy suggestion, that game of dodge ball, but he realised there was something behind it after watching aimlessly at it for what seemed like hours.

It wasn't surprising that the class had decided to gang up on Naruto. Every person hitting him at least once, even when it was clear that he was already 'out'. It went on like this, people sometimes putting on the act that it was still a friendly game in front of the teacher. But Sasuke knew that the teacher saw what he saw; he was simply turning a blind eye.

The ball was once again aimed at Naruto. This time it was Kiba throwing it. He could almost feel the pain of the heavy shot as the sound travelled and rang in his ears. Finally, the teacher came to his senses and blew his whistle. He was too far away to hear what he was saying but he could tell that it wasn't favouring Naruto. The boy's gestures seemed exaggerated as he pointed here and there at his wounds, as he –what looked like –counted the number of times he got hit, and the pointed finger at Kiba and the rest of the people. Sasuke almost smiled at the scene. Naruto was so easy to read.

Then he saw the figure walk towards him as the rest of the class gathered in a group. Before long, Naruto came and sat at the other end of the bench. He could tell what had happened but the question came out anyway. "Why're you here?"

"Fucken teacher thought I was acting immature and told me to sit out. Did you see what they did to me?" he turned around with a wild face and Sasuke saw the many new bruises on his face and arms. Then, he turned back, as if remembering something. "Like the fuck you care anyway."

He felt a pang in his chest.

"I thought you didn't want to play in the first place?"

"Look," he spat, "I don't want to talk you and stop pretending like you give a shit, okay! I already know you hate me."

Sasuke glared at him before turning away. "Fine," he said in a cold tone. __

The class was slowly divided into two teams and was split into fielding and batting. He watched the sport, not really paying much attention to it. Sasuke wasn't a baseball person and lost interest within five minutes into the game. The only reason he watched any longer was because there was nothing else to do and he didn't want to show that he was bored in front of Naruto.

After what seemed like ages, he looked down at his watch. He cursed softly when he realised that there was still half an hour to go. Unconsciously, his eyes travelled to Naruto. The boy was staring at the game intently, an obvious interest present in his eyes even when his body betrayed none of that. His gaze concentrated on his face, the old bruises slowly fading, replaced by new ones that hadn't come up until now. He could see the few bandages that were recklessly pasted on and thus, easily falling off because of the recent event, to reveal dried up blood. His gaze then landed on those eyes again; a light, pleasant shade of blue that blended in with the sky behind him. He looked lower, scanning his nose, his lips; the slightly squared chin, the long neck, and then back up till it rested again on those lips. Swollen and bruised with the thin trail of blood trickling down before it was carelessly licked away. And then the face spun around and it took Sasuke a while to realise that he had been caught red-handed.

"What are you looking at?"

Sasuke considered it for a while. He really didn't know why he was staring in the first place. Why he had found Naruto's face so interesting. It was weird, even for himself, because he couldn't recall any other time when he had…studied someone's face so intently before. _What was wrong with him?_

"I should've known. You're probably thinking I'm, like, the ugliest human who's ever walked the planet, right? Fucking get a grip! No one was born perfect like you."

_What?_ He thought. _I'm not thinking that! I don't think you're ugly! _And he caught himself just in time as the last thought hit him. Realisation struck. His eyes widened. _It couldn't be_, he thought. _No way!_

"Like you're shocked I know what you're thinking? You've got a problem, Uchiha. Stop being so vain and act like you own the fucking planet!" The voice was raised with anger but Sasuke didn't pay much attention. He looked up at him, at the angry face, at the golden hair slightly tousled by the light wind, at those enchanting blue eyes...

_No!_

"I don't know what's so good about you anyway. Why everyone in this school practically bows at your feet. Oh, wait, that's right, it's 'cos of that rich father of yours, isn't it?"

He had heard the statement clearly and should've been offended by those words. Like all the other times when they talked about him like he owed everything to his father, that he was nothing without his rich daddy.

But… 

He didn't feel his body trembling.

"He probably buys you everything you want, everything you need. You don't know what it's like having to earn money –how fucking hard it is. You probably don't even know what it's like to suffer!"

It wasn't true. He knew suffering, all right. Being stared at as if you were non-existent, like you couldn't think for yourself because your father had made all plans for you. How everyone would just compare you to your brother and give you dirty looks because he was always smarter –the fucking genius in the house!

"God, why am I even _talking_ to you?"

He should hate him, he really should. He had said everything to offend him and he wasn't sorry for it. But, as he searched deep down for that familiar hatred he directed to anyone who had belittled him, it was surprisingly not there. He couldn't hate the boy. He couldn't, because he knew that the boy had suffered like him. Because he knew that they were similar in so many ways.

Because his sudden closeness had made it difficult to breathe..?

_Fuck!_

"You're like a walking brick of ice."

They were mere inches apart and Sasuke couldn't help but notice those lips being so close within reach.

_Fuck!_

"I hate you."

And that wasn't supposed to hurt more than anything else that he felt. And he wasn't supposed to feel disappointed when he moved away.

It's only been two days, he tried to reason. I don't even know him! He's probably a show off retard he is right now. You're thinking too much into him. That lame past was probably all made up.

But such reasoning had sounded pathetic even to his own ears. The Uzumaki past wasn't just made up. The look in those eyes earlier in the corridor wasn't just a figment of his imagination. Hadn't he wanted to find someone like him all his life? Hadn't he wanted to share a part of himself with someone else? To live a life that wasn't his? Something different? Then why was he denying it now?

He was attracted to Naruto, in ways that he hadn't ever thought possible.

But did this mean he was… a queer?

No, he wasn't.

He collected himself.

"I hate you too," he heard himself say. He stood up and stared down at the angered boy. No, he wasn't a queer, because Itachi had a gorgeous girlfriend, and he was supposed to have one even more gorgeous. He was supposed to beat Itachi –like how he was supposed to beat him in everything else: academically, socially, physically… That was the only reason why he was trying so hard at school. He had to beat him in everything because it was the only dream he remembered –the only dream he kept.

_Because it was the only way for him to keep sane in the fucking shithole called life… _

He had no time to be gay.

He dusted himself and walked away. In his mind lingered the hurtful expression in those crystal blue eyes. _No_, he chided, and shrugged the thought away.

TBC

A/N: okay, I know it seems a bit all over the place. And trust me, I didn't plan the last Sasuke bit. But it seems to fit, right? I remember someone giving me a review saying that they wanted something more than them being physically attracted to each other. Wells… I hope you don't feel that it's just physical attraction that Sasuke is feeling 'cos, I didn't plan it that way! And it certainly isn't supposed to be that way. Hehe… OH, one more thing, just in case yer wondering… That wasn't the 'drastic' move Sasuke took… there's more to it. And hopefully, the angst will come soon. : P Please review!


	7. Control it as you may

Disclaimer: Naruto's characters are not mine.

This is a SasuNaru fic, meaning, YAOI. You have been warned!

Further warnings: OOCness, moderate lime, swearing, grammatical errors, and maybe, some non-English words.

A/N: Another slow update. I seriously don't know what the hell I'm doing ::sighs::

Helpful info: 

"sssss" -shift in POV. I _cannot _believe FFnet refuses symboling!

"sama"- a respectful add-on at the end of the name. Think of it as 'master' or something.

"Itadakimasu" – something that the Japanese says before they eat. And if that's not it, then, hell, pretend that it is. I was staring at that word on the screen and wondering if it meant 'to eat' or 'to welcome'. And as you may've noticed, I was too lazy to check.

****

**Something Simple: Chapter 7**

It was when the game ended that the class approached him. Naruto had almost seen it coming. After Sasuke left, he met the occasional glances given in his direction and the obvious confusion with it. The boy was gone for almost 20 minutes and he knew that he wouldn't be coming back. His last words rang hard in his ears and he couldn't help but feel slightly saddened by it. _I hate you too._ It had hurt more than he had expected. Perhaps a part of him still wanted to be accepted by the Uchiha? Not that he understood where that part came from.

"Naruto, where's Sasuke-kun?" It was the teacher who asked him first. He shrugged his head.

"Dunnoes. He left a while ago and never came back."

A student standing behind the teacher spoke; his voice more cheerful than concerned. "Sir, Naruto must've said something to him. You know Sasuke-kun would never leave before instructed to." His teacher nodded in agreement and Naruto had a feeling that he was going to be held responsible. Sure, he had said a few mean things to him, but it wasn't like his words really had an effect on anyone. It never had an effect on anyone.

However, his teacher said instead, "Everyone, pack up the equipments and put them back in the gym. You may go home afterwards." Naruto felt a hint of joy. So the teacher wasn't going to tell him off? He stood up eagerly to help get the equipments. After this, he would finally be able to go home, and maybe, he could stop himself from thinking too much. His head was beginning to hurt from it. Just as he walked a few steps away, though, he heard his teacher's voice again. Apparently, he wasn't finished. "Except you, Naruto. Please stay behind."

Disappointment washed over him and his shoulders slumped slightly out of habit. He saw the rest of his class moving away and, reluctantly, he forced himself to turn and face the teacher. When all was quiet, and he was sure that everyone had left, his teacher began again.

"Tell me, Naruto. Why did Sasuke –kun leave?"

"I seriously don't know, sir," he replied.

"You know I don't believe you."

Naruto rolled his eyes. Why bother asking, then?

"Look, kid. I don't know what it is that you've said or done to Sasuke-kun, but it must've been something big to make him leave without telling anyone. He is a very responsible student, and this is just something out of his nature." He paused and looked at him thoughtfully. "This has been your second day, right?" Naruto nodded. "Second day and you've already caused this much trouble. Unbelievable." He shook his head in disappointment. "You have detention tomorrow after school. And I suggest that the next time you see Sasuke-kun, you apologize to him for what you did. Understood?"

He didn't even bother waiting for a reply before he turned and walked towards the direction of the school gym. Naruto remained in his spot, unmoved. He could not believe what he had heard. Not only was he given a detention, but he also needed to apologize? And for what? For being told that he was hated? This was absurd.

He began walking just as the school bell rang. His thoughts were still on the Uchiha boy. The words he left resounded in his head. _I hate you too_. He shut his eyes.

_Like I care_.

sssssssssss

Sasuke waited patiently outside of the school gates. His driver should be coming any minute now and soon he'd be able to go home. That was all he wanted. Go home, sleep, and forget about everything that happened today. He wasn't one who liked to dwell too deep in matters, especially the trivial one he was facing. Given some time, he'd hopefully forget about it. No, scratch that –he _will_ forget about it. Naruto would be gone from his head; he was sure of that. After all, how strong can a measly attraction be?

A grand Mercedes Benz parked up in front of him a few minutes later and Sasuke went in and sat in silence. Takuya, his driver, nodded in recognition before starting up again. It didn't bother Sasuke that he was never met with the courtesy or respect a young master like him should deserve. He was used to these things. Like how he'd ignore the fact that they'd always greet him –if ever –with 'Sasuke' and not 'Sasuke-sama', unlike his brother. He tried to reason that he didn't care about such formalities. A 'sama' in the end of his name, held no meaning to him. And if he did, he'd earn it soon enough. But somehow, it'd always surprise him how vivid his memory was to these things. And the anger or jealousy (whatever he called it), albeit little, would still surface.

ssssssssssssssss

There were still many students remaining in the entrance of the school waiting to be picked up. Naruto paid them no heed as he walked his way out. His stomach growled loudly as he realised he hadn't eaten anything since the morning. Perhaps he'd go Ichiraku's again? Though he didn't really have that much money.

Too caught up in his mental dilemma, he hadn't noticed the figure approach him until he felt a tap on his shoulder. His body shot up in surprise and he turned around. What met his gaze gave him more shock than before and he stuttered terribly his companion's name. "S-Sh-Sh-I-I-ka-ka-m-ma-r-ru!"

"Woah! What happened to you?" Shikamaru stared at him, an amused look on his face. "Don't tell me you got bashed again?"

Naruto couldn't help but heat up with this statement, his previous shock completely ignored. "You think its funny? Where were you anyway, huh? Where were you all this time when I was beaten up?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I thought we were friends."

Shikamaru shrugged in confusion before averting his gaze towards the clouds above. "You're so troublesome."

"What!" Naruto shrieked.

"And loud."

Naruto stared on in disbelief. "I don't know what you're talking about," Shikamaru continued, "but I'm hungry. Lets go eat."

Taken aback by the offer, Naruto's gaze fell. "Are you sure you want to eat with me still?"

He gave a weary sigh. "And you're confusing too. Far out, you're almost like a girl!"

"I'm not a girl!" Naruto protested.

"Whatever," he rolled his eyes. "Lets just go."

And with that, he led the way, expecting the boy to follow. However, Naruto remained still, torn between following or going home. He wasn't sure if Shikamaru knew about him yet because, surely, if he did, he wouldn't be offering to eat with him. No one had known about the Uzumaki past and still wanted to befriend him. Especially when they haven't known each other for that long. After a few steps, Shikamaru turned around, an annoyed expression on his face. "Come on!" he hurried.

"Shikamaru, you have to know something."

The boy walked back towards him, his annoyance still present. "What?"

"I'm an Uzumaki…"  
Shikamaru let out a gruff. "Yes, I know. Killer, yada yada. It's been around school. You don't think I wouldn'tve heard, right?"

"Then why…?" The boy shrugged nonchalantly. "You can ask someone else, I won't mind."

He began walking off and Naruto felt disappointed once again. _Should've guessed_, he thought. But Shikamaru's voice shocked him once again. "It's too troublesome. Just go already. I'm hungry!" And he continued walking, expecting the boy to follow.

But this time, Naruto did.

ssssssssssssss

It was a long, quiet trip home. Like all those other trips he had in the same car with the same driver at this same time. Sasuke stepped out without the help of Takuya and walked promptly towards the entrance. A maid opened the door just as he reached the first step and bowed slightly. He ignored her and ascended the long spiral staircase towards his bedroom. As he reached there, he threw his bag on the floor and locked the door behind him. He walked slowly towards his bed.

It was always quiet at this time of the day. Itachi and his parents weren't back yet, and the workers were probably resting from all the cleaning done in the morning. Soon they would be preparing dinner and Sasuke couldn't find himself looking forward to that even as his stomach grumbled violently. He lay down on his soft silk covers, indulging himself in the comfort for a while. Then, he stood up and stripped himself of his jumper and shoes making it more comfortable to sleep. He covered himself with his blanket and laid on his front, his hands resting on either side of his pillow. As he was about to doze off, he registered the bandage on his left hand caused by the chemical spill from yesterday and a bright shade of blond suddenly appeared in his mind.

He fell into deep slumber.

sssssssssssssss

"Welcome!" came the cheery voice of the owner of the Ichiraku store. Naruto and Shikamaru sat down in front of the said owner with the bench separating them. "You boys again? How may I help you?" He gave them a friendly smile and Naruto smiled back. "Two Chashuu Ramen, please."

"Righty-o," he said and tended to his work.

Naruto turned back to Shikamaru and continued their previous conversation. "So what did you guys do in English today? Did I miss anything important?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Don't think so. But Kakashi sensei was awfully worried. He mentioned you, like, five times." He rested his chin on his palm and stared blankly at the limited insides of the kitchen. "And Sasuke was acting quite weird."

"Who the hell cares about him," Naruto said irately.

Then, as if realising something, he turned to face the latter boy. "Hey, you know, there's this rumour going on about you and Sasuke." Naruto looked at him confused.

"What rumour?"

Shikamaru laughed loudly before replying. "They say that you like Sasuke!"

"Fuck no!" Naruto shuddered at the thought.

"Thought so. I didn't think you were a fag."

"I don't think I am either."

"But I think he is," Shikamaru said, an evil glint in his eyes.

Naruto choked at this. "What?" he asked. "No way!"

"He's never had a girlfriend before, you know. Not that you would, but still. And that kiss…" he smiled impishly, "I'm pretty sure was his first."

Naruto shook his head, blocking out the unwanted memory. "I don't believe you. He has all these girls after him. I don't think he's stupid enough not to have tried it out at least. And what would you know anyway? Don't tell me you're friends?"

"No way. He doesn't talk. And I know these things; everyone knows these things. If it's about the Uchiha, people know. He has like stalkers on him all the time. Oh, and don't be surprised," he added sarcastically, "he has a student fan club."

Just then, the owner came back and placed the two bowls of ramen in front of them. "Here you go," he said and gave them another friendly smile. Naruto thanked him before he went and tended to his other customers.

Shikamaru passed him the chopsticks before digging in. "Itadakimasu," he said softly and began slurping at the tasty noodles. Naruto did the same, but yelled out more loudly than Shikamaru. After another two more bowls of ramen each, they both slumped down in their seats for being too full. More customers came in at this time of the day, but it wasn't enough for them to be kicked out yet. They continued sitting in their seats, a comfortable silence between them. It was Shikamaru who spoke first.

"Hey, that thing about Sasuke being gay, wasn't true, okay? I was only joking. If you tell anyone, I'll kick your ass."

Naruto laughed bitterly. "Like there's anyone to tell."

Another silence ensued, but this time it was out of awkwardness. "If it makes you feel better," Shikamaru said, "not everyone hates you because of your past."

"I know," Naruto replied. "At least you don't hate me."

"No, Naruto. I mean, other people. They don't hate you because of your past." Naruto turned to him.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know." He paused. "I just think that the majority of the people just go along with it. They're just… jealous."

"What the hell would they be jealous about?"

"Well you know what the girls are jealous about. But you know, some guys there tries really hard to be friends with Sasuke, but he never really reacted. Since you came, though, all his attention has gone to you. And I guess they're just envious that you're able to make him talk even if it is just to argue or fight."

"I'd prefer he not pay any attention to me, then," Naruto said, looking at his empty bowl. "And if you wanted to know, he hates me. He told me today."

Shikamaru looked at him thoughtfully. "Some people don't actually mind that."

"Well then, they're stupid!" Naruto yelled. Some customers turned to stare at him, and he lowered his voice. "Who the hell wants to be hated? And what's so good about Sasuke? Why do they all want his attention? From what I can see, he's just a rich, spoilt brat who thinks that he's top shit."

"I was like you in the beginning," said Shikamaru calmly. "My friend kept talking about him all the time and I just thought he was annoying. I even began to hate him. But then I realized that he really didn't do anything to me and I really didn't have a right to hate him. Annoying, yes. Hate, no. And I'm sure that's the same for you. You're just annoyed that he has the attention."

Naruto thought about this but couldn't find himself to agree. It was both annoyance and hate for him.

"There must be something about him, I think," continued Shikamaru. "I don't know what it is, but it must be there. Everyone I know seems to like him, or even interested in him as a person. Weird. But who am I to judge?" He shrugged.

"You've talked a lot today," commented Naruto.

As if noticing for the first time, Shikamaru agreed. "True, yeah! Damn, it must be the ramen." He stood up. "Wanna go now?" Naruto nodded and paid their meals at the counter. They bid the owner farewell before they left the store.

"Where are you going now?" Naruto asked.

"Home," Shikamaru replied. "I've got Maths to do. I don't even know why I'm doing two Maths. It's such a hassle." Then, as an afterthought, he added, "Sasuke's in my class."

"I don't care," Naruto said, unable to hide his frustration. "Why has today's topic been revolved about that idiot anyway?"

"I don't know," shrugged Shikamaru, "but it's so fun to see you get irritated by him." He gave a teasing smile. Naruto growled.

"Well then," said Shikamaru, "I'll see you tomorrow." He waved goodbye and prepared to leave when Naruto muttered something under his breath. "What?" he asked.

"I said," tried Naruto, "was the rumour true. That thing you said earlier?"

Shikamaru shook it off. "Somewhat. It's only amongst the girls though so don't worry."

"Then how did you know?"

"Hmmm… good question," Shikamaru said, more to himself than the other. "How did I know? Oh, yeah, there's this girl who never stops harassing me. She always turns to me to tell me everything related to Sasuke. That's why I know so much." Naruto nodded. "Ta, then," he said and walked away.

Naruto stared at the back of Shikamaru for a while before he, too, went home. For some reason, his mind still remembered the last words exchanged to the Uchiha and as he walked down the street towards his own apartment, he found that, again, he couldn't shrug the memory off.

ssssssssssssssssss

He was walking down an empty alley. It was dark, and he didn't know what he was doing there. His hands traced the side of the wall to guide him through to the end of the alley; where the light was. He needed to get there –that was all he knew. He inched closer; each step he took was painfully slow. Just as he was about to reach the end though, he knocked into something (a bin! What was that doing there?) and he felt himself falling. Strong hands suddenly halted his fall and he looked up to find himself staring into a pair of deep cerulean eyes. They were familiar and his mind shouted to himself that it was someone that he knew. The name of the boy remained on his tongue, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't shout out the name.

He was rested against the wall and the person reached for his face. "Are you hurt?" came the concerned voice, but he couldn't find himself to reply. The person inched closer, blue eyes meeting his and stopped just as their noses touched. "Sasuke, are you hurt?" the person repeated. Sasuke didn't move. What was going on?

"Come with me, Sasuke," the person spoke again. He reached for his hands. "Come with me." Sasuke felt himself stand up and was taken towards the blinding light. Where are you taking me? He wanted to ask, but again, his voice wasn't there.

They walked for a while, the light seeming to take forever to reach. Once they reached there, however, everything seemed to blend into view. They were standing in the middle of a field, the grass were vast. Green flooded his senses and Sasuke looked around trying to recognise the place. Alas, he didn't know

"Where are we?" he finally asked, and was shocked to hear his voice. The other replied.

"Does it matter?" He turned and saw the sun shining down at his companion. The sunshine locks shined in the light, the eyes turning into an intense blue.

"Naruto, what are we doing here?"

The boy approached him. He was wearing a white shirt and long black slacks. He looked almost ethereal against the blinding light. "Don't you want to be here?" he asked. "Don't you want this?" He was holding his hands now.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked, confused. The boy stared deeply at him and he felt himself drowning inside those orbs.

"I can save you," came the reply. Sasuke became frightened. _What was he trying to say?_

"What can you save me from?" he whispered.

"I can save you," he repeated, and it suddenly clicked for him. He knew the implications the boy was making.

"Really?" he asked again, needing confirmation.

"Yes."

The boy inched closer towards him until their lips met. It was a slow and sensual kiss. He felt his mouth being tugged open and he willingly allowed it. Having another's tongue inside his mouth had never been so pleasurable as he reacted to the kiss. Slowly at first and then becoming more frantic. He fell down backwards onto the grass as the other leaned too close on him. But the fall was surprisingly soft.

Naruto broke the kiss and trailed light kisses on his jaw, his neck, moving slowly downwards. His hands reached for the blonde's hair as he tried to stifle a moan. He felt his shirt being ripped off as the boy became impatient. And, as he reached and began to bite on his nipples, he felt himself go hard. The friction in his pants intensified.

It was his first erection.

The boy's movements were painstakingly slow as he removed his pants. Sasuke tried to wriggle out of it, wanting the release. And then the boy stopped. And he was confused of the sudden interruption. "Why did you stop?" he found himself asking.

A second later, he saw the blond lying next to him, a smile on his face. He grabbed his hands again and placed it down on his erection.

"Try it," he urged, as he felt his hands being guided down onto his member. Up and down, up and down. That was the rhythm. He closed his eyes as he felt himself getting near. But what was it that was nearing?

"Naruto…" he heard himself moan as his hands worked faster. "Naruto…" Again, his hands continued. Up and down, up and down, upanddownupanddownupanddown….

"Nh..nh..nh…" he was getting there. Just a few more… "Ahhhhh….!!"

ssssssssssssssss

Naruto laid down his Maths books onto his small table. He decided that he should work a bit on Maths today, just in case the class was ahead of him. He turned to chapter 6: Integration. He smiled. _This should be easy_.

ssssssssssssssss

He opened his eyes and was met with white again. But this time, he knew his surroundings. He registered the white desk he had spent countless nights doing his homework on, the nicely cleaned cream carpet, the clothes he had thrown on the floor, the shoes next to them. His eyes went to the white sheets and on the blanket that wrapped only halfway down his torso.

And he registered the stickiness in his hands.

He sat up straight and removed his coverings. His pants had somehow rolled down to his ankles, his boxers with it. What surrounded his lower body now was a sticky white substance that took a while for him to recognise, or rather, for him to understand. It was unfamiliar, and yet, it was not. Sasuke shuddered.

_Fuck! _

sssssssssssssssss

It took Naruto three hours to complete the chapter. He was happy to know that he could do all the questions. He lay down on his already prepared futon, arms around his head. _I wonder how long it takes for Sasuke to complete a chapter,_ he mused. And then he caught himself. _Why am I thinking of him?_

Shrugging, he got up and went to the kitchen. It was already 8:00 and he decided that he'd have a cup of ramen just in case he got hungry at night. He placed the water on the boil and waited a couple of minutes. _Wonder if Shikamaru finished his Maths…_

sssssssssssssssss

A knock on the door froze him in his spot. "Sasuke, dinner's ready."

"Aa," he tried and waited for the footsteps of his maid to go away. He looked down at his tainted sheets. If the maids found out about this, they'd tell Itachi for sure. At first, he had wanted to wash it but then he realised that it'd be even more obvious if he did that. He tried thinking hard; perhaps he could just throw it away?

Another knock interrupted as the same annoyed maid called him again. "Sasuke," the voice was louder, "dinner's ready."

Clumsily, he shoved the sheets under the pile of dirty clothes in his ensuite bathroom. The maids usually cleared it in the morning so when he finished his dinner he'd be able to think more on it. He walked out and closed the door behind him. Servants and maids walked past without noticing his presence. With the amount of hassle going on, he knew that there were guests.

Carefully, as to not walk into any busy workers, he descended the stairs and headed towards the dinner table. He was right. Itachi's girlfriend and two of his other friends were sitting on either side of the table. When they saw him, they greeted him with a cheery 'hello'. Sasuke ignored them and sat down in his spot.

"Sasuke, don't be so rude." It was his father's voice. "Be respectful to Itachi's friends especially since you're the younger." He looked up to meet his father's gaze. The man had a stern face on him, apparently displeased by his attitude.

"It's okay, uncle," his brother's girlfriend, Ami, said. "He's still young."

"He's almost 18," said his father, "when Itachi was his age, he'd already taken up my position as chairman, and attended to clients with sufficient manners. Such a useless boy." He shook his head. "I don't know what went wrong."

Sasuke ignored the comment and reached for a roll at the centre of the table. He was used to these talks so it shouldn't matter to him. Just as he was about to reach it, though, his hands were violently tapped away. "Little brother, you should really learn your manners." He looked up. Itachi smiled wickedly at him. "Father starts first."

Again, his father shook his head disappointedly. 'It's okay,' Ami mouthed to him as their eyes met. It was intended to be reassuring, but Sasuke knew all too well that it was only a fake display of kindness. "Itadakimasu," he heard his father say before he started with the roll and the other occupants of the table followed suit. Sasuke stayed last to do so, not wanting to be lectured at again. His mother sat beside him, quiet as usual, the clinking of her knife and fork being the only noise that she made.

"What happened to your head?" Ami asked, trying to start conversation. It bemused Sasuke how the girl had thought herself already a member of the family. Defending him, speaking to him, starting conversation during dinner thinking that she had every right to do so. He was the child of the head of the house and, still, he had no right to do that. If they didn't ask him questions, he wasn't supposed to talk. And then suddenly, his mind drifted off to the boy in his sleep. _What's he doing now?_

Hearing no response, Ami started again. "Sasuke-kun? What happened to your head?" And yet all Sasuke could think of was: _wonder if he's eaten. Must've been better than this._

"Sasuke!" His father's loud yell snapped him out of his thoughts. "Answer Ami, now." He looked almost murderous and his mother beside him tensed. Lowering his head, he answered, "It was an accident."

"Oh," said Ami, in her mock surprise. "Did it hurt?"

"No," he said curtly.

"Your brother doesn't seem to like to talk much, does he, Itachi?" asked one of his brother's friends.

He could hear Itachi's amused tone. "No, he's very quiet."

Dinner proceeded in silence for Sasuke as he ignored the conversation regarding business on his table. There were many times when he'd listen on, trying to catch the important things being said that would be beneficial to him in the future, but tonight, he didn't feel the mood. _What was the loss in it anyway?_

Dessert soon came, and he tried to clear his thoughts of everything. Not of his father, not of his dinner, and not of Naruto. Concentrating hard on not trying to concentrate, he didn't see his maid approach Itachi and whisper something in his ear. And he also missed the devilish glint in both their eyes.

"Well, well, well," came Itachi's voice. "I would like to make a toast." Sasuke ignored this; it wasn't like he could drink anyway. His friends were apparently confused.

"What for?"

"For my brother," he said and eyed him as he looked up. _What?_

"Oh," was his father's voice.

"Congratulations to Sasuke for finally being a man." Sasuke's eyes widened. _What?_

"Is it his birthday?" a friend of his asked.

"No, I have just heard great news from his maid," his smile was unbelievably huge. Sasuke's eyes widened some more. _What?_

"She was just cleaning his room before and she found his sheets under the pile of dirty clothes in his bathroom. Apparently, there was a _huge_ mess." Ami giggled while his father let out a low gruff.

"About time," he heard his father say. Sasuke couldn't tear his eyes away from his brother. _What!_

"I don't get it," said his friend. "What's so special about that?"

"Yeah?" asked the other.

Ami squeezed her eyes and gave a toothy smile. Her voice squeaked a little. "Guys, it's his first time!" She turned towards him, the cute act still intact. "Congratulations, Sasuke-kun! I'm so proud of you."

Sasuke stared down at his half finished dessert. His face was slowly heating up.

"So, what about it, huh?" continued his brother. "Is it worth toasting or what?"

"Wow, isn't he nearing 18 already? That's quite a slow development."

"And I bet you wouldn't believe that he lost his first kiss just yesterday. 'Tachi-hun, why don't we make a toast to that too?"

"Dude, your brother is so innocent!"

"Nah, he's only slow."

"He must've gotten that from you. Even with his age, he still doesn't look like a man yet. So embarrassing."

"Hun, don't say that."

Sasuke could almost feel his face burst from the amount of heat inside. He stood up roughly and the talking suddenly came to a halt. "Excuse me," he said quietly. The back of his knees pushed the chair behind.

"Don't tell me you want to leave?" He looked at his brother, a taunting smile tugged at his lips. "Finish your dessert first, little brother. No, actually, it should be _Sasuke_ now." He revealed his perfectly white teeth as he smiled the malicious smile of his.

"Look at him, he's blushing!" he heard Ami say.

He stared into his brother's eyes and repeated himself firmly. "Excuse me." The smile from Itachi's lips wavered as he left the dinner table. Sasuke walked briskly up the stairs hearing his father shout his name. He didn't want to go back. He couldn't. Not when he was embarrassed like that in front of absolute strangers! He shut the door quietly as he entered his room, his forehead hitting the cool wood. He could still hear the voices from below but he didn't want to concentrate on them. He tried to comfort himself as he thought up of cruel deaths Itachi would suffer from. Long, slow, painful ones that took hours and hours for him to die. That would be his ultimate revenge, he decided. But even as he thought of that, he found no heart in it. And once again, he found his mind drifting.

_"Damn you, Naruto." _

His voice had come out too weak.

TBC…__

A/N: I think you all would've noticed what I tried to do with the last POV. And if you didn't, well I'll tell you. I WAS TRYING TO MAKE YOU FEEL SORRY FOR SASUKE! HE HAS A FUCKED UP HOUSEHOLD! Yeah, that's the general message of this chap, that and the other thing you must've picked up during. If not, I'LL KILL YOU. ::grabs knives from her collection and prepares to throw at anyone who doesn't::

So, um…reviews?


	8. When friend turns foe

Disclaimer: Not mine

Warnings: Yaoi, OOC-ness, incoherence, weirdness, bad conversation skills. You have been warned!

**Something Simple:**

**Chapter 8:**

Naruto had been in the school for a bit over a month now, Kakashi mused as he leaned back against his chair. His class were busy discussing themes of their current text in their groups, which meant that he had the time to laze around a bit. He continued staring at the blond, whose face looked enthusiastic as he spoke to the rather bored Shikamaru. It had actually surprised Kakashi that the two were friends, and although a part of him was glad about this, the other part was quite... confused.

He averted his gaze to the other side of the room. The usual sight of the girls surrounding his nephew was customary, but that didn't mean he didn't feel pity for him whenever he saw it. The boy placed a hand to his temple as the girls' voices heightened. Words like "prada", "versace" popped up and he understood where the annoyed expression on his face came from. Perhaps he should do something about it?

Looking back at the other two on the opposite end of the class, he was suddenly struck with an idea.

"Naruto, Shikamaru," he called. Naruto stopped talking and the two boys turned to look at him. "I thought I asked you guys to work in groups, not pairs."

Shikamaru gave him a confused look before replying, "We always work in pairs."

It was true, the two always worked together and he understood the reason quite well. Shikamaru was the only one friendly enough (or lazy, if he wanted to interpret it that way) to work with Naruto considering the latter's unpopularity. As long as they weren't working alone, the definition of "group" could be stretched a little bit and it shouldn't really bother him. It _never_ bothered him. But, well, consider it their bad luck.

"Which is why it should be corrected. Class, I need a volunteer to work with the two at the back." His class stared at him for a moment before going back to their work, assuming someone other than themselves would volunteer. Of course, Kakashi already knew the answer before asking. It was only, let's say... a formality?

"Since no one is volunteering, I'll just pick someone at random them." He scanned the room for two seconds, trying to keep the act intact before he announced his already decided candidate. "Sasuke, you can work with them from now on."

The boy looked at him, an eyebrow raised. His face continued to hold no emotion, which, considering the situation wasn't a bad thing at all. If the boy didn't really want to do it, then a death-glare from him would surely surface. Kakashi sighed in relief.

Of course, Sasuke wasn't the only of his problems.

"What! Sensei, you can't do that! Sasuke-kun _always _works with us!" the girls in his group cried, followed by:

"No way! I don't want that idiot to be in my group!"

It was a blessing that Kakashi never cared about much.

"Look, who's the teacher here? Do as I say or I'll ring up your parents." There was a moment of silence and Kakashi felt relieved of the authority he had over them. But as quick as that came, it was soon gone when he heard the bitter comment from one of the girls.

"Che! Not like Naruto _has_ any parents."

Silence ensued and Kakashi suddenly couldn't think of anything to do. He glanced at Naruto and saw that the boy had averted his gaze and was looking out of the window, avoiding everyone's looks on him and their unspoken anticipation of his response to what was just said. In what little time they knew him, it was a well know fact that the boy was vocal. It was present whenever he was teased or taunted by his peers, especially from Kiba's group. He'd hardly physically fight back, but his insults and the volume of it was enough to save him from further harassment. Soon enough, many grew tired of the taunts and reduced it to just plain glaring. But this...

He turned to face the girl again, finally deciding to tell her to apologize. However, something stopped him and he looked up abruptly to the direction of the sudden noise. Sasuke had raised himself, his chair screeching mildly against the wooden floor. It was only soft but the silence in the room seemed to amplify the noise. All eyes went on him as he began collecting his things. When that was done, he stared at the girl, his eyes cold.

"Shut up."

If possible, the silence in the room grew thicker as he walked towards Naruto's table. He was met with a scowl from the blond as he plopped himself on a chair, spreading his things on the vacant table next to them.

Kakashi blinked.

A moment later, he recovered himself. The class did too and went back to their discussion, but the topic was definitely not on the English text. In the other corner, the girl that Sasuke told off was in near tears. "_Sasuke-kun_...!"

X.X.X.X.X.X

He didn't know why he said that. He really didn't. But things seems to be so screwed up these days, he was more than willing to forget. Only last week did he receive his first A in Methods, and that should be saying something. The outcome had been more than easy, so he should've aced it. But why hadn't he?

"Page 63: 'I didn't know why I was feeling this way. He had always been so trustworthy...' Shika? You're not sleeping are you?" He stared at the moving lips.

The dreams had been more frequent as well...

"Hell-lo?" He continued staring as Naruto tried to shake the other boy from his slumber. "Hey, you can't just let me do it by myself!"

His eyes suddenly narrowed at this. "I'm alive, you know." Giving up, the boy rested in his seat. Around them, students were still working and Kakashi could be seen reading his perverted book. Suddenly, Sasuke realized how isolated this group was.

"Ever since you were here, you hadn't said anything or done anything. That's great help, isn't it?"

"Shikamaru hasn't either."

"At least he showed some sign of listening before now. Besides, that's just him, and I've accepted that. Unlike _you_, Mr. I'm-too-good-for..."

"Why don't you accept me?" he cut. Naruto's eyes widened slightly and he found himself biting his lower lip. That had come out so wrong.

"I meant..." he tried. But what exactly had he meant?

Naruto cleared his throat, trying to ignore the current topic. "So, um... Pg 63's quote is the first indication of Peter's change of character. Er... he begins to have doubt in his friend, which means..." He was struggling to think straight.

"I didn't mean it that way, idiot." The air had grown awkward between them and Sasuke didn't like that.

"Hey, watch it!" Naruto retorted out of habit. He sighed in relief. "You're the idiot around here."

Sasuke mentally noted that their relationship hadn't improved much since their first encounter. Perhaps the reason was that he had actually tried _avoiding_ the blond ever since his first dream of him. He still didn't know what was wrong with him yet, and since he kept doing something silly every time his thoughts were on Naruto, he decided that that was the best thing to do. Avoid; hence, forget. But why was it that he'd sometimes find himself staring at the boy from his seat during classes? And why did he continue fantasizing about him in _that _way?

He knew for sure that it wasn't love; that would be going too far. Like? Well, he hadn't really liked anyone before, and he highly doubted that he would feel that way towards another boy. Perhaps it was really infatuation then? Or a phase? That would be more like it. He heard somewhere that guys in their teens experimented with these kinds of things. It was a stage of sexual ambiguity, which normally made them, unconsciously, think of both males and females. But if that were the case, why hadn't he entertained the thoughts of girls before?

"God, why are you so up yourself anyway?"

Automatically, he replied, "I'm not up myself."

"Whatever." Naruto went back to his book and for a moment Sasuke thought that that was the end of what little conversation they had. That was until he heard the soft voice. "Y'know, what you did before, that was kinda nice." He lowered the book from his face. A moment later, he added, "Thanks."

It took Sasuke a while to know what he was talking about, but when he did, he felt something inside of him go fuzzy. _It's only a phase._ "I thought you didn't care about those things."

Naruto looked at him for a moment, as if contemplating if he should answer. In the end, he decided to. "True, or so I tell myself anyway. But no matter how many times you think that these things are so trivial and that you shouldn't worry about them, they end up affecting you more than you like. Everything matters whether we like to admit it or not." He stopped then. "I guess you don't know what I'm talking about, hey?" His eyes lowered and his expression saddened. "You're so lucky, you know that?" The book resumed its place and Naruto continued his previous work.

For the remainder of the class, Sasuke couldn't help but stare at him. He didn't know what he was supposed to feel. He didn't know if he should be feeling anything. But inside, something continued growing despite his will to suppress it. He could only admit that it was longing.

X.X.X.X.X

He felt those eyes on him again. He heard those snickering too. God, it was so annoying! He spun around.

"Stop it!" He hissed.

The boy leaned back in his chair. He recognised him as one of Kiba's friends. The same smirk that was ever present in Kiba's lips was on his now, and so were the other people besides him. "Someone's paranoid," he said teasingly. Naruto growled.

"Students at the back, stop talking!" It was the teacher's voice again. "How many times do I have to tell you guys off, huh? We have an experiment today and you'll most certainly do it wrong if you don't listen. Now pay attention. If I have to repeat myself again, you'll all have to see me after school. Understood?"

Naruto nodded, but the boys behind him tried to defend themselves. "But, Ms., we didn't do anything. It was Naruto."

He suppressed the retort that threatened to escape his lips.

"I don't care. Just listen, will you!" She breathed heavily. "God, students these days."

She went back to her explanation and Naruto resumed copying the notes from the board. He was glad that he wasn't getting into any trouble with the teacher but he knew that soon he would be. He looked at the instructions again. '...Each member should jot down their own observations. The experiment should be done separately, but the results are collated and compared.' His teacher normally went ballistic when he worked alone and did pracs individually. He let out a desperate sigh. _What do I do now?_

"...There won't be enough time for you to finish it in class, so you'd have to meet up and do it in your own time. Don't worry, though; it's due in two weeks. For every day that it's late, though, it'll be a deduction of 5 marks. You may begin now."

Students lifted themselves from their seats and went to the bench to collect the needed equipments. Naruto reluctantly followed suit. He'd have to tell the teacher that he'd be working alone and the usual lecture would be directed his way again.

The teacher stared at him as he approached, seemingly already knowing the problem. "No partner?" she asked and he nodded solemnly. "I don't care. This cannot be done individually, Naruto." She turned to face the class. "Naruto here has no one to work with. Who would be kind enough to let him in their group?" He lowered his head as mild laughter ensued and no one volunteered. He had thought that by now, the teachers would've understood that asking for a volunteer to work with him would just be an embarrassment on his part since no one ever did. He let out another sigh and was about to work out a compromise with her when he heard a soft voice.

"N-n-ar-ru-t-to-k-kun c-can w-work-k i-in m-my g-group-p." He turned to the general direction of the voice. It was a girl with short black hair and freakishly grey eyes. He vaguely remembered that her name was Hinata.

"It's done then. You'll be working with Hinata from now on."

He walked to her bench that was near the front. The class were beginning to tease her and he could see her cheeks turning crimson. "Um, thanks," he said when he approached the table. He was partly grateful, but also, partly worried of this. He had never really spoken to her.

"T-that-t's-s o-ok-kay," she offered.

He saw that in what little time, she had already collected the needed chemicals. However, as she bent to reach for another set of equipment from the little cupboard below, Naruto saw, to his confusion, two sets already placed. "Who's the other person," he asked.

When she straightened herself, she gave him a shy smile. "S-sas-suk-ke-k-kun. H-he's-s j-j-us-t g-gon-ne t-to t-the t-toil-let-t."

He couldn't suppress the scream. "WHAT!"

X.X.X.X.X.X

Shikamaru waited for his friend outside the gates. He didn't know what was taking him so long but he decided that if he didn't come out soon, he'd most likely fall asleep. Just when he was about to doze off, however, the familiar voice greeted him. "Hey."

"What took you so long?" He stretched himself as he got up.

"Don't even talk about it," came the bitter reply.

"Okay. Let's go then."

They walked the usual path to the popular ramen stand. The trip was quiet save for the soft mumbling coming from the rather annoyed blond. Shikamaru ignored it. He didn't want to know about it, since he was sure that the boy would spend forever explaining to him, so he just continued walking. The place was getting closer and he suddenly wondered why they'd always go to the same place to eat. _That's right_, he remembered. _Naruto loves the place and we couldn't be stuffed changing._

He stared up at the clouds. _There's something I'm supposed ask..._

And it hit him.

"Oh yeah. Naruto, its my friend's birthday next week. Wanna come?"

"Don't tell me its Sasuke," he said through gritted teeth. Shikamaru blinked. _Sasuke?_

"No, it's Chouji. From another class."

Naruto let out a gruff breath. "I don't know him."

"Who the hell cares? Free drinks. Waddya say?" When he heard no response, he tried again. "It'll be fun. You need to relax some time, you know?"

"Since when were you interested in these stuff anyway?"

"I'm not. But I need to get out of the house. My mum is such a pain these days." He rolled his eyes despite himself.

"Who'll be there, though?"

"Um...everyone from school I guess. He needs as many people to come as possible to fool his parents that he has friends. That's what all the rich kids do."

"Er...but...I..."

"They wouldn't even notice you."

Naruto turned away. "Thanks a lot."

"You know what I mean. C'mon. It'll be fun."

The familiar welcome was heard as they entered the place and both boys went to sit in their usual seats. "So?"

"Okay, fine. But only if Sasuke isn't gonna be there."

"What's this with Sasuke?"

Naruto looked at him for a while before answering. "You wouldn't believe my bad luck. In English we had to work together, and now for Chem, we're in groups! Bastard!"

Shikamaru offered a smile. "Don't worry, then. He never comes to parties."

The man asked for their orders and as usual, Naruto did the ordering. Shikamaru stared at the blond. He felt guilt rising in his gut. In what little time he had known Naruto, he had actually grown to like him. Evil past aside, the blond was just a normal person. He wasn't as they said to possess any of his family's violent traits. All he ever did was swear and yell, but that could hardly be seen as dangerous. And considering the circumstances he was in...

He let out a wary sigh. _Forgive me,_ he thought. _If I don't do this, she'll just annoy me more._

TBC...

A/N: **IMPORTANT!** As you can see, I don't exactly know what i'm doing. So here is a serious question. Would it be a complete 'heartbreak' if i didn't continue this fic? May be a little over the top, but you know what i mean. **Don't review if you don't mind or don't care**. If there's a dramatic decrease in reviews, i'll know the answer. Please don't blame me, it's just that, i feel that this fic has just gone weird and the amount of OOC-ness is...staggering! So yeah. Just gimme an answer. **REMEMBER:** do not review if you're not really following it and you think it's no big deal if i discontinue. Thanks.

And a huge thanks for the kind reviews. I'll deeply miss it.


	9. Admission

Disclaimer: Not mine

Warnings: Yaoi and much weirdness.

**A/N: **You guys asked, so I answered. Hope you guys like this, though I must warn you; even I don't quite follow it.

**Chapter 9: Admission**

It was nearing twilight as he made his way home. He never really liked walking that path, already dreading the would-be lecture coming from his troublesome mother. So, he decided to take as much time as he can, every step seeming to take zillions of years to make.

The sky painted a soft myriad of colours and the clouds seemed to fade along with the setting sun. It was quite beautiful actually, he thought, but then, the sky has always been a magnificent thing to him.

Rounding a corner to his street, he continued walking in his slow pace. Never one to rush things because, hell, it wasn't like the sky was likely to fall on him. And if it did, then he'd rather die on the streets alone, than near his mother after hearing that annoying voice of hers.

Only three houses away from his home, he saw a familiar figure standing aside his gates. Deliberately stomping slightly to make his arrival known, the girl didn't fail to notice the noise. However, when she looked up her face seemed almost murderous.

"What the hell took you so long?"

Shikamaru shrugged, trying to act unaffected. "I didn't know you were gonna come."

After several minutes of sending daggers through her eyes, she calmed down. "Did you do it?" It was said out of confirmation rather than questioning. She had always known he wouldn't let her down.

"Yep," he said, hands reaching for the gates.

"Did he agree?" The metal creaked as it slowly opened.

"Yep."

"Are you sure?"

"Yep." As he made his way inside, he turned around casually to ask, "Wanna come in?"

The girl shrugged. "Sakura should be waiting for me."

He nodded and closed the gates behind him. He heard her heels making a faint clicking noise against the cement as she began walking away. Unconsciously, he wondered why girls wore heels in the first place. Wouldn't it be a pain for their feet? Ignoring the weird tangent of a thought, he inhaled a deep breath as he made it to his first doorstep. "Better make it snappy."

SSSSSS

He stared at the figure sitting on the steps of his apartment building. Confusion didn't even cover what he felt at the moment as both of them locked gazes. _What the hell is he doing here?_

It was the other who broke the contact when he stood up. Instinctively, Naruto said the first thing on his mind. "What are you doing here?" It had come out harsher than intended and he mentally wondered why.

"That was a rather friendly greeting," the boy said sarcastically.

Naruto yelled the next thing that passed through him, "How did you know where I live?"

The intensity of the voice seemed to be too much for the other as the boy covered both his ears. "Do you have to yell?"

He mentally noted never to trust first instincts again, for he really didn't know why he was screaming. Perhaps it was because he had always been like that in front of him. Or perhaps, it was a really bad day. Nonetheless, he wasn't one to be submissive, so he decided to continue on in this little charade. Besides, the annoyance the boy sparked in him this afternoon still hadn't left.

"Why? Can't you take a little _vooluume_, Sasuke?" He continued to yell. "I thought you could hack anything, or am I _wrooong_?"

Sasuke looked at him dangerously. "Shut that trap of yours or you'll be sorry."

"What you gonna do? Hit me? Go ahead!"

A fist automatically collided with his cheek, and Naruto found himself nearly losing balance. He placed his hand against the new wound. "You bastard!" he growled.

"Why do you always have to piss me off?"

"Why do _you_ always have to piss me off?" he retorted.

"I told you not to yell!"

"Well I told you to go die but you never listened!"

By this point, however, Sasuke wasn't paying attention to him. His hand reached for his head, as if having a serious migraine and Naruto suddenly noticed that it was actually bleeding. _Shit, my voice is that powerful?_

"What happened to your head?" he asked, trying his best to sound genuine.

Sasuke looked up and gave him a glare. "You, that's what."

He looked incredulous. "Bullshit! What the hell did I do, huh?" Then, on another impulse, he yelled, "And why the hell are you here?" This only gave him another punch in the face.

He fell ungracefully back, the impact being stronger than the first. Lying down, his mind nearly burst with insults to award the figure standing. Before, he was worried; now, he was damn right pissed off! Collecting himself, he did his best to sit up.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" he yelled. In his anger, he didn't see the thick stream of blood falling from the side of the boy's face. "Not only do you fuckin' stalk me, you come to bash me! You dickhead! Asshole! Fag-..."

He was cut short when a book came flying towards him.

"Here! That's what!" Sasuke yelled before walking past him to leave. Confused, Naruto let the book fall on his lap. He hesitantly turned the object over to see the cover. He felt a pang when he saw his familiar writing on the bottom right corner: 'Uzumaki Naruto; Chemistry Pracs'.

Guilt washed over him as he witnessed it. He checked the insides to see if it was indeed his and not a scam, but to his –dismal- it was not. He held on to the book, wondering how on earth he could've left it behind. But as he touched it, his heart only wrenched more painfully in remorse. _The book is still warm..._

He turned around searching, but the boy had disappeared.

SSSSSS

_Why do I bother? Why do I bother? Why do I bother!_ His mind was streamed with the single thought as he made his way through an unfamiliar street. He tried to recognise the path he had taken from the school but it seems as though he was lost. _And where the fuck am I?_

Making another left turn he was met with a row of domestic houses. He tried to follow his instinct in finding his way back. Takuya should still be waiting for him, and it was getting late. But his head hurt, and the muscles in his arm still ached...

FLASHBACK:

"Hey, let's erase his answers!"

"Yeah, see how he can pass with that!"

Sasuke ignored the snickering behind him. He continued on packing his things before exiting. Hinata and Naruto had just left and since Hinata collected the things for him, he decided to stay behind to clean up the group's mess. It had been a surprise to know that Naruto would have to work with them for the project, but a part of him had been...glad. He often saw the boy working alone and sometimes he would find himself debating whether or not he should invite him in the group. Not that, of course, he'd accept the invitation anyway. It was better this way, though. He didn't need to ask and the boy didn't need to know that he wanted him in first place. To join, that is.

Collecting the last of his books, he started making his way out when he heard one of the boys behind laugh again. "Stupid Uzumaki!"

Unconsciously, he stopped in his tracks. "He's so gunna fail."

For some reason, he turned directions and headed for the noisy group. When one of the boys saw him, they smiled. "Hey, Sasuke."

"What're you doing?" he asked indifferently.

One of them waved a book in the air. "See this," he said. "It's the idiot Uzumaki's. We're just having some fun." Impulsively, Sasuke grabbed for the books but failed. The boys were surprised.

"What?"

On the second try, he was quicker. When the book was in his hands, he gave a smirk before walking away.

"Hold on."

Several hands were firmly placed on his shoulders to stop him. "It's okay if you don't want to join, but don't spoil the fun for us."

Perhaps he'd lost all his sanity for starting this; he didn't know. But automatically, he shrugged the hands off him and threw his things on the ground. There were five of them and he was at a disadvantage but he wasn't prepared to give up. Maybe he could use this excuse to vent his bottled feelings and confusion? He charged towards one of them. _That's it, _he told himself. _I need to release some stress._

END OF FLASHBACK

_And to relax I go and wait 4 hours for that dickhead? I'm seriously fucked in the head. _

There was a weird sound echoing in the empty streets and it took him a while to notice that he was actually laughing. He leaned against a brick fence, giving in to the weirdness surrounding him. The laughing soon turned to soft sobs as he fell on the ground and rested his chin on his knee. He held his legs closer to him.

_What's wrong with me?_

FLASHBACK:

"The rumours are true, isn't it?" one of them yelled. Someone had whacked him with a chair and his head was throbbing with pain. "You _are_ a bloody fag!" He kicked the side of the boy who said that. He had done a good job with the other four.

"What are you on about?"

The boy choked on blood before he continued. "Why the hell do you care, Sasuke? You've never cared much about anything before!" He kicked some more. He didn't like where the conversation was leading to.

"Shut up."

"First, you tell the girl in English off. And now, you're doing this. Why, huh? You fuckin' like him, don't you? Fag!"

That wasn't true. He was certain. Just because he was doing unusual things these days doesn't mean it was an indication that he liked the blonde. Hell, it wasn't an indication to anything at all!

"Shut up."

"Do you ever jerk off thinking of him, huh? Do you? I bet you have wet dreams after thinking of him. Am I right?" He choked on blood again.

It didn't mean anything...

"Shut up." He kicked his side again, harder this time.

"He's a fucking murderer!"

"He is not!" His scream shocked him. He had been too quick to defend.

"See, you're defending him. Why? Why would you defend someone if you didn't like them!"

"Because it's wrong to accuse, that's what!" he yelled. Why was he so damn angry?

"What the fuck are you doing?"

He swivelled his head to the entrance to face the figure. The boy beneath him did so too.

"Kiba!" the boy cried relieved.

END OF FLASHBACK

He felt the hot tears running down his face, but he refused to acknowledge it as such. He told himself that they were blood –blood from Kiba's strong blow. But his nose was getting too runny. And he sniffed again.

Exhausted of telling himself what and what not to do, he leaned back against the wall in a gesture of weariness. He let the liquid fall, doing nothing to stop them. He was getting too tired.

Through his clouded eyes, he saw the magnificent sunrays spreading different shades of yellow. From the lighter ones through to the more intense and bordering reddish hues. Yet, despite his will not to let the thoughts surface, he found, like most other times, his mind not obeying. He bit his lip as more hot liquid cascaded down his cheeks.

"Naruto..." he whispered.

FLASHBACK:

"We've heard you, you know? We've heard you in that change room when you thought everyone had left. We heard you and your _disgusting_ moans."

He ducked a punch and lifted his leg for a kick. He was lucky that it made contact and the boy fell painfully on the floor. He was getting too tired of this. He was sore all over and his head was hurting like hell. Absently, he wiped away the blood.

"Shut up!"

Was he becoming hysterical? He didn't know. He had been hearing all these things from Kiba and he was certain that they weren't true. It couldn't be true. He was always so good at being secretive.

"Tell us. If you're not a fag then why the hell were you moaning HIS name?"

He threw a nearby chair at him.

"Shut up!"

END OF FLASHBACK

His legs stretched flat against the cool cement and his arms feel limply by his sides. He was going to go crazy if he didn't stop this. This incessant need to see him, to hold him, to touch him...

Denial didn't work anymore. Refusal never had.

"Naruto..." he whispered again.

Instinctively, his hands moved to his inner thighs and he willed himself not to go any further than that. But his member was slowly aching as thoughts of Naruto smiling, laughing, and giving that cheeky grin covered his senses. That particular shade of blue that belongs to him solely. Thoughts of him undressing in the changing room, his head being stuck in one of his tops as he clumsily yanked it on. Him and the soft green grass where they would experiment on...

He heard his fly unzip.

Frustrated tears poured down as he unwillingly let his hands slide down his now throbbing member. It was an open street; a quiet street, with just one peak from any one of the houses and they would see; yet he continued despite himself.

It wasn't for pleasure and he knew it. It was a confirmation to what he finally discovered himself to be. From the first innocent touch, to the now more experienced, he couldn't deny that the thoughts that would arise could only belong to one person in particular. And again, his tears would fall.

He didn't want this, yet he was honest enough to accept it.

The sun continued descending; the sky was beginning to darken. His mind had died, but things continued without him. On the empty street where he lay, he remained with his hands working against his saner will and his thoughts bombarded with someone he rather not have. Sadly, his tears were his only companions.

TBC...

**A/N:** Just to tell you all, IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TODAY! And it's quite sad really to have spent the early hours typing up a fic. It's now 4:40am, I've finished it in soooooo many hours, but I'm quite proud of myself.

I demand a present! And what easier and cheaper pressie than a review? It'd make me so damn happy!

CIAOS dens


	10. A conversation

For all three Chapters:

Disclaimer: Not mine and never will be. Songs isn't either.

Warnings: Yaoi

A/N: Now wasn't that last chapter pointless? Anyways, sorry for the slow update, so here's three chapters for compensation ::dodges death glares:: Also, I'd like to say (or write) that the narration's slightly changed. Reason? The result of reading ONE book after a whole year's laziness (makes me wonder what would happen after two books). Tell me what you think. Narrative is faster, but emotions is... dunnoes. And heres a few things to note since i don't want to add other a/n's in other chaps (after realizing how annoying i am in them):

1) OOCness shall be attributed to drugs

2) I know now (a bit too late) that Sasuke's fringe is parted but for this, it is not. (I'll fix it later, i swear!)

3) Haven't read enough songfics (in fact, i haven't read any at all) so same song use is purely coincidental

4) Grammatical errors, hast and wrongly allocated names shall be forgiven. I'm not quite comfortable letting families and friends know that i do this (makes it sound bad doesn't it?) and when they keep walking past me i get this huge shock and embarrassment and need to hide it. Thus, irush andleave blanksfor character nameswhich i later replace.Cut the long story short, errors are inevitable. Which means that they SHOULD be forgiven.

And there's more but i can't think now 'cos my eyes are killing me. So yeah. Questions ask. i'll try answering, or explaining, or changing plot to incorporate it. And that's it! (Now wasn't that annoying?! Or perhaps noone even read it ::sighz::)

**Chapter 10: A Conversation**

Takuya whistles a recent tune in his seat. He'd finished his papers already and that boy still hadn't returned. Glimpsing at the time on the radio, he finds that he'd been sitting in the driver seat for almost 6 hours. His back ached and his bottom was sore; though, he had no intent on getting out. Laziness does that to you.

He winds down his window deciding to have another cigarette. It didn't intrigue him what Sasuke would be doing gone for 6 hours. And though it was late and his nicer part of him told him that he should be searching for his _master_, he didn't. _He's old enough_, he thinks. _He needs to be independent._

The night wind caresses his face as he pokes his head out, cigarette hanging on the side of his mouth. He thinks, yes, that boy has been acting weird lately. He'd known Sasuke for almost 12 years and he'd never seen him stay out late. In fact, he never stayed out at all. Perhaps it's even fair to say that that boy had no friends. Not that he cares much.

Takuya remembers when Itachi-sama once told him to pay particular attention to that boy. He didn't question it at that time but now he begins to wonder why. I mean, what attention should he give? He only ever goes to school and comes home. Takuya practically knows his daily routine: wake up, go to school, come home, do homework, eat dinner, do more homework, and sleep. Sasuke's personal maid tells him this. So… why?

Takuya takes a long drag and exhales. He'd probably suffer a beating from Itachi-sama if he knows that they hadn't come home before him. Maybe he should really go out and look for that boy.

So Takuya decides that he'd finish his cigarette before he moves his lazy arse out of the car. But as he takes his final drag, he thinks he doesn't need to. He can vaguely make out a figure approaching him and knows –since his seen him almost every single day- that it's his _master_ deciding to finally come back. He smiles and thinks: dinner should be ready.

The car heats up as he hears the door closing. Takuya has a glimpse at the rear-view mirror and sees that that boy is in an absolute mess. He takes the decency to ask: "What happened to you?"

But there is no response from the boy so he shrugs his head. Not like he actually cared. As he makes his way to the Uchiha house, he begins to think of something to tell Itachi-sama.

X.X.X.X.X.X.

Naruto knows when he is wrong. He is an honest being. Sitting there on his futon, he continues looking at the book placed out in front of him. He notes that some of the answers were removed, but it was done in haste, so he could pretty much make it out.

He sits there, with his blanket wrapped around his shoulders; his hair still wet from the shower before and thinks. He thinks: perhaps he should say thanks to the boy. He thinks: perhaps he should say sorry to the boy. Then he rejects them, shaking his head furiously and thinks: why should I?

He stands up almost abruptly and heads to the boiling kettle. He decides to have some tea because he really can't stand looking at that book again. And no matter where he hides it, no matter where he shoves it, his eyes would always seem to roam –and spot- that damn book. And it damn well pisses him off.

Holding the tea between his palms, he tries to look intently at the ceiling. There are cracks up there, he notes and decides that when he isn't busy, when school's over, when he needs to take a breather, he'll fix it. Yes, he'll fix it.

Unconsciously, his eyes search for the book on his futon again. He curses: damn book, and walks over to it. He places the cup carefully on the side and sits on his bed.

Yes. He'll apologize.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

The next day Naruto arrives at school early deciding to bump into Sasuke. He sits in his seat and faces the window. The clouds are grey early in the morning and he feels lucky when he sees the first few drops of rain. _Thank God I don't have to walk in that._

Then it pours.

_Thank God I don't have to walk in_ that.

His vision adjusts to the downpour outside and vaguely wonders why it is raining when yesterday was just a perfect day. It was a stark contrast, really, but he doesn't mind. In fact, Naruto quite like the rain. Whenever it rains, whenever he concentrates on the rain, he'd find that he wouldn't think much. His mind would be blank. And that was good because when he does think, when Naruto does think, alone, in the darkness of his house, he'd think ugly thoughts.

He'd imagine the face of his father. Imagine the face of his mother. He'd imagine the screams, the yells, the sound of ripped clothing. He'd imagine the scene of how he had come into the world –in a dark alley with muffled cries of pain, of force. And always, he'd shudder. Because he knows, deep down, that his existence had not been wanted.

Glancing at his watch, he notes that Sasuke is late today. Then he wonders how this fact had come so easily to him.

As if on cue, the door opens. Sasuke walks in soaked.

"Didn't you bring an umbrella?"

The boy looks at him, his eyes slightly showing his surprise. "No."

"You'll catch a cold." He felt that he had no control over his words. In situations like these he wouldn't even say a thing to the boy, let alone, show concern.

"What do you care?" Sasuke snaps. He walks to his seat, taking his blazer off all the while. None-too-gracefully, the boy drops the clothing on the floor and Naruto dimly hears the wet noise it makes upon contact with the carpet. Outside, the rain continues to pour and Naruto feels a lump in his throat.

Silence.

The apology won't come easy.

"So," he begins. "Don't you think our weather is a bit fucked up?" He gives a nervous laugh and eyes Sasuke. But Sasuke does not respond.

"Look, um…" he coughs, "about yesterday…" Again, he eyes the boy. _Why isn't he even looking?_

"About yesterday…" he drawls again. _What's that word? _He thinks. _Oh yeah, 'sorry'_.

"Save it."

Naruto's eyes widen at the brisk response. "Wha-," he says, dumbfounded.

"Go die, Naruto"

"Huh?"

"Why are you so fucking annoying."

"What?" Naruto asks incredulously. But by then, he sees the other kicking a nearby table towards him, and tries to avoid on instinct. He stands up abruptly, but the table doesn't even come close.

The boy stands up and leaves.

_Bastard,_ Naruto thinks.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

Sasuke walks to the medical room where they keep the spare uniform. His entire clothing is soaked and vaguely wonders why. _Oh yeah_, he remembers, _I fucking stood in the rain. For what? Of course for fun._

He stops himself thinking beyond this.

The school nurse greets him cheerfully but the smile drops when she sees his condition.

"Sasuke-san, what happened to you?"

He asks politely: "Can I please have the spare uniform?"

"S-sure," she replies and goes to the cupboard on her left.

When she hands them over to him, he takes it and quickly walks to the room to change. He ignores the mounting questions and stays in the room for perhaps a bit too long.

When he is done, he glances at the full-length mirror on the wall and stares at himself critically. His hair is in a mess, his bandage around his head is soaked, and the shirt he wears is slightly tighter than he usually likes it.

Then he stares at his eyes and notices the dark rings under them.

He hasn't been sleeping.

Letting out a wary sigh, he opens the door and thanks the nurse before going out. But then he hears a voice; or perhaps, two voices. Usually Sasuke wouldn't care if there were three or a bunch of them voices but he stops this time because he hears a familiar name. He hides behind the door.

"Naruto will be _begging_ for mercy!"

He notices that it's Sakura speaking. Then Ino, laughing.

"I know! When the tape gets around he'd lose so much face. Let's see if Sasuke-kun likes him then."

"Fuck, Ino-pig! Don't say that. I refuse to think Sasuke-kun like this."

"Me too. But you know, like, in case. Besides, it's probably nothing serious."

"Yeah."

"So you getting it, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Get some extra. I haven't done them in, like, so long."

"Sure. I still can't believe his coming though."

"He's probably just trying to belong."

"True."

The girls turn a corner then, their voices out of reach.

"Sasuke-san? What are you doing?"

Sasuke jolts and turns. "Nothing." He bows and takes leave.

As he closes the door behind him, he thinks: who cares. Really, it doesn't concern him anyway.

He walks towards the class and overhears another pair's conversation.

"Hey, you bringing your girlfriend to the party?"

"Yeah. Chouji won't mind."

Sasuke stops hearing then because he's already heard what he needed to know.

TBC…


	11. Weirdness, the party and a hasty exit

**CHAPTER 11: Weirdness, the party and a hasty exit.**

As the teacher drones on about the chapter on Areas of some lousy graphs, Naruto finds himself peculiarly staring at someone sitting on the opposite end of the room.

The boy's head is resting on his palms in a gesture of boredom and yet, Naruto cannot understand why he has been staring at that for close to ten minutes. On a tangent, he thinks: why hadn't he noticed?

From experience, Naruto finds that if someone stares at him, he'd, somehow, feel the eyes on him. It's like some hidden energy that burns when focused too intently on something. He remembers the time when he caught the same boy looking at him during classes. Of course, after a while he didn't bother trying to meet the gaze. What was the point when the boy's head always turned before he ever got the chance?

Perhaps that boy was used to being stared at.

He looks at the hair; the jet-black colour that was contrasted to his skin tone. He looks at the eyes –or the remains of the eyes since it's always hidden beneath the layer of fringe. And he vaguely wonders if that is the reason why the boy seems so cold. Everyone says that eyes are the windows to a person's soul, so when covered, does that mean that the soul is covered too? Does that mean there is a thick layer of whatever it is surrounding the only part that makes them human?

Naruto stares at him, at that lazy posture, at that effeminate face and wonders: Why is he so cold?

He shakes his head then and tries to refocus on the teacher. He thinks back to the scenario in the morning and promises himself not to ever think of that damn boy again.

There I was trying to apologize and what does he do? He tells me to die, calls me annoying, kicks a table towards me, leaves a bloody wet jacket on the floor and gets me into trouble for it. Fickle bastard.

He lets out a sigh. Outside, the rain has stopped but the clouds had yet to clear. Unconsciously, his hands reach for his stomach and he thinks of ramen. And when he hears the bell going off, he is happy, but then is not.

It's only lunch.

He walks out, ignoring everyone –because everyone pretty much ignores him- and walks to the cafeteria. He waits patiently in the usual table that he and Shikamaru occupies with his tray of food.

As a form takes the seat opposite of him, he looks up. But it is not Shikamaru.

"Yes?"

Sasuke looks directly at him and he feels unnerved by this. Without knowing, he shifts in his seat.

"Yes?" he repeats again.

"Are you going Chouji's party?"

"What's it to you?"

"Don't," came the smooth voice.

"Why?"

"'Cause."

"'Cause what?"

"If you think that going to these sorts of outings will give you friends you are very wrong."

"Excuse me?"

"Don't go."

"Look, okay. I'm not going there to make friends. Shikamaru wants me to go with him so I'm coming. Sorry to burst your bubble." He stands up then, deciding to move to another table, but a hand grabs his wrist.

"Listen to me."

For some inexplicable reason, he feels burned by the touch. He knows that it isn't the usual burn; it's something more. It tickles his skin slightly, providing that numbing feeling, and surges through his body with incredible speed. His stomach goes funny then, like the description of those million butterflies occupying it or the insides doing somersaults. He doesn't know why and suddenly realizes that it's the first time anyone's ever touched him like this.

Then it is gone. Sasuke drops the hold.

_What the hell?_ He hears himself breathing heavily.

"Yo, Naruto! Ey, Sasuke? What're you guys doing?"

He turns to see Shikamaru and wills himself to forget whatever that happened before.

"Hey."

Shikamaru gives him a quizzical look and he tries to quickly explain. "Ah! He just came over to… Oh yeah, he told me not to go Chouji's party."

"Why?"

"Dunnoes. He's weird."

"Oh."

"Hey man, lets go somewhere else to eat."

"Er… okay."

They both walk away from Sasuke towards another table far away from the latter. Naruto doesn't know why, but he hears his mind telling himself not to look back at the boy. So he doesn't. He doesn't ponder, either, on that strange emotion from before. He walks with his tray in both his hands and decides to ramble nonsense to Shikamaru because that is his way of occupying his mind. It never fails him, so why should it now?

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

A week later, on the day of Shikamaru's friend, Chouji's, birthday, Naruto finds himself pretty much doing the same thing as he does in recent days: looking at absolutely nothing.

Year 12 syndrome was getting on where, like most other students, he'd not really pay attention in classes anymore. He was glad that Kiba didn't go to school these days –something about an injury and is now in a hospital- so his life at school was pretty much non-dangerous –if such a word exists.

He thinks to the party tonight and his insides well in anticipation. He's never really attended rich kids parties so he was really looking forward to it –how it is, what it was. At first he was worried when Shikamaru told him that they weren't going together (him having to go earlier because their parents were close friends) but is not anymore. _Stop acting like a faggot._

It is the last lesson of the day and it is Chemistry. Naruto doesn't really like Chemistry but he is good at it so he does it. He looks to his partners: Hinata and Sasuke. To him, they look quite good together.

"You know," he decides to say. "You guys should go out."

The two look up at him. He smiles. But something in his smile doesn't feel so natural to him. And when he sees Sasuke's expression –an eyebrow raised, visible through his now semi-parted fringe –he somehow feels bad.

"W-what m-makes y-you s-say t-that?"

And he can't find himself justifying it.

"Ha ha ha! Just a thought," he manages. He looks down to the report he is doing and tries hard not to look up, not to say a word, not to do anything but concentrate on the number of moles each reaction has. But it fails. And he thinks: something is wrong with me.

When the bell goes and the teacher finishes writing the homework down, Naruto quickly makes for the door. There is something in the area his group occupies and there is something about how they are positioned today that makes Naruto find it so difficult to breathe. And it is weird because, behind them, there is a window. Opened. Naruto shrugs it off.

He reaches his locker in no time and grabs for his weekend homework. It takes a while for this because Naruto needs to fit everything in his bag. He decides to do homework for all his subjects. In the midst of his packing he almost forgets about the party he has to attend tonight but does not when someone reminds him.

"See you Chouji's," a classmate shouts to their friends. He doesn't even have time to ponder on this when he feels another presence near him. When he turns around and sees whom it is, he smiles.

"Hey Hinata-san."

"H-Hey N-Naruto-k-kun. I w-was w-wondering if y-you w-were b-busy on S-Sunday."

_Why is she always stuttering?_

"Nope, why?"

"M-Ms s-said t-that w-we s-should f-finalize o-our r-reports l-lest w-we f-forget and h-hand it in l-late. We've d-decided to go S-Sasuke-k-kun's h-house to do it. I-is that a-alright with y-you?"

He thinks on this then asks: "Why Sasuke's house?"

"B-because his h-house is f-free. M-my p-parent's are inviting g-guests o-over, un-unless y-you w-want it at y-your place?" She begins twirling her fingers but Naruto doesn't notice.

"That's cool. I don't have his address though."

Hinata quickly grabs for something in her bag and hands it over. It is a strip of paper with writing on it and Naruto thanks her as he closes his locker and puts it in his bag. "Thanks. See you then."

He leaves not bothering to ask if she is going to the party tonight. He thinks: Why wouldn't she? It's a rich kid's party and she's rich.

Rounding a corner, he exits the school and heads home.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

At about 9:00 when Chouji's parents had left the house as expected the party that all were talking about _really _started. Music was pumping, people were dancing and drinks and other 'goodies' were being shared around.

A girl, whose long blonde hair was waved for the special occasion, stood next to her pink haired friend. There were others around them, joining them, because there was something going on. Setting up cameras, grabbing markers and preparing drugs. For them, this was a special mission. One that involved taking revenge and making the sufferer remember the night forever. They were determined to succeed.

Moving along with the loud music, they passed around tablets and swayed to the rhythm of the beat. They loved parties and went to one nearly every week because, hey, it wasn't like anyone stopped them.

When all was done –the preparations, the set ups –the pink haired, Sakura, grew impatient. "When's that idiot coming anyway?"

"Chill," replied the blonde. "Just wait."

She handed over a tablet to her friend and the other quickly swallowed it down. When 10 minutes passed and there was still no sign of the person whom they waited for, Sakura asked again.

"Where's your friend, Ino?"

The bunch stormed towards a dark haired boy lying blissfully on the couch.

"Shikamaru!" cried Ino. "Is he coming or what?"

The boy's lids flew open and, upon seeing the bunch of girls, winced. _How annoying_, he thinks.

"You told him 9:00 right?"

"Yeah, wait."

And that was all because they hear a scream from the front. ("Why the fuck is Naruto here!")

The girls smile.

Shikamaru looks away.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

_So much for a nice welcome_, thinks Naruto as he enters the grand double story house he spent ages finding. The whole street had just about looked the same and Shikamaru's address and descriptions weren't exactly helping.

He walked inside ignoring the drunks and the shrill noises to find his friend. He really felt awkward entering like this but what can he do? He walked through the hallway registering the expensive décor, the antique paintings but something about it didn't make his heart fill with envy.

_Maybe it was his mood…_

Music was too loud for him and it took him a while to find who he looked for. The boy was lying on a leather couch and he approached him and woke him up. The latter did, but it seemed he wasn't exactly sleeping at all.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey."

"Want a drink?"

He nodded.

The boy stood up and went to –what Naruto suspected –the kitchen. He continued sitting there amongst the large crowd and loud music. It is his first ever party but he's already concluded that he didn't like it. _This sucks._

After what seemed like forever, Shikamaru came back, holding a bottle of already opened drink. He eyed it curiously and his friend immediately said, "I opened it for you. Save you the hassle." Naruto shrugs it off and takes it. He takes a swig and decides that he likes the drink. It tastes a bit different from the one he usually has perhaps because it is more expensive. Not long, he finishes the bottle.

"So what's there to do?" he shouts when the music muffled his first try.

"You can dance if you want," came the response. "You want another drink?"

Naruto nods again but declines the dance. When Shikamaru passes him another bottle, he gulps it down as fast as the first. He doesn't understand why and soon, without knowing, he begins drinking more. And more. He begins to feel a bit tipsy as the room starts spinning around him. The colours dance in his vision but, peculiarly, he feels good.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

Sasuke lies in his bed trying to sleep. But he doesn't even come close.

"_Naruto will be begging for mercy!"_

"_I know! When the tape gets around he'd lose so much face. Let's see if Sasuke-kun likes him then."_

"_Fuck, Ino-pig! Don't say that. I refuse to think Sasuke-kun like this."_

"_Me too. But you know, like, in case. Besides, it's probably nothing serious."  
_

"_Yeah."_

"_So you getting it, yeah?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Get some extra. I haven't done them in, like, so long."_

"_Sure. I still can't believe his coming though."_

Sasuke rolls in his bed before lying upright and facing the ceiling. _Just because I like him doesn't mean I have to do anything,_ he thinks. _He's old enough to take care of himself. _He nods. _Yes, that's right._

"_Naruto will be begging for mercy!"_

He lies there again, restless, and the line before echoes in his head. A moment later he gets up and walks briskly out. "Takuya!" he calls while descending the stairs. The man stops talking to the maid when he hears this. "Get me to Chouji's."

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

Sakura grabs a camera ready. The boy is reacting to the drugs and she smiles along with her friends. They laugh, a most shrilly laugh, and she looks through the screen of her digital camera. _Just a bit more_, she thinks.

On her other side is Ino, holding the video cam. Of course, Sakura wanted to be in charge of the video camera first, but heck! Who cares? It's still the same. _Just drink a bit more_, she thinks, _just a bit more…_

"Wow, I can't believe his reacting so quickly to speed," says a girl and Sakura twists her neck back.

"What did you say?"

The girl looks at her innocently. "You told me to spike it."

"_I_ was supposed to spike it," she says.

"Really?" asks Ino. "Wasn't it supposed to be me?"

They look at each other for a moment, shocked of what they heard. Then they look back at the still drinking blonde. "What did you give him?" she asks carefully.

"X, what about you?"

"Acid."

"Um, weren't we supposed to make him sleep?" asks another and the three spin to her direction. The girl looks away. "I had extra, so I put some in."

Sakura looks at the girl then turns to her two other friends. "Shit," they say in unison. They look back at the blonde wondering what the hell will happen now. But, when the situation finally reached their senses –after one shared look –they begin to laugh.

It _is_ quite funny.

TBC…


	12. Starry, starry night

**Chapter 12: Starry, Starry Night**

"Why are you going to Chouji's," asks Takuya as he starts the engine. "Some project?"

Sasuke doesn't answer him so Takuya asks again. "So?"

"There's a party," the boy finally replies.

"That's strange," he comments. "You don't like parties. What's with the sudden change?"

"That's strange," is Sasuke's reply. "You don't usually talk that much. What's with the sudden change?"

Takuya doesn't reply at this and shuts his mouth during the entire trip. _Yes,_ he thinks, _there's something wrong with him._

When they arrive at the Akimichi's residence, Takuya wonders if he should ask what time to pick him up, but stops mid thought.

"I'll get my way back," says Sasuke. He looks to the boy in the rear view mirror and just before he gets out of the car, he hears softly. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell Itachi about this."

There is a pause and Takuya understands that the boy is waiting for some sort of acknowledgement. At that point, he doesn't know what to do.

"Itachi-sama is leaving for Hokkaido soon." The moment of tension is thick. "He wouldn't even know you went out."

There is a nod for, perhaps, gratitude and despite himself, Takuya smiles. When the door is shut and he sees Sasuke walking towards that loud estate, Takuya doesn't immediately drive off. He leans back on the seat and opens the roof window.

There are stars shining brightly tonight and perhaps it is the change of song in the background, but Takuya decides to stay there for just a while longer. He closes his eyes then re-opens them again. _The stars are truly magical_, he thinks. Takuya ponders on the cosmos for a while longer before starting the engine. _Who am I kidding?_

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

Sasuke hears a familiar techno remix of a song playing.

On a night like this

Just wanna stay forever

Stay forever

He never really liked Kylie.

He walks through the crowds of people, all of which too drunk or too busy to know his presence, and into the house. Once in, he immediately remembered why he never really attended these outings in the first place. Music blasted his ears and the smell of cigarettes and pot filled the air. Somewhere, he could make out that disgusting stench of a person's vomit. _Yuck,_ he thinks.

Deciding not to stay any longer in the place, his eyes immediately search for the boy. His eyes scan here and there then come to a quick conclusion that the boy must be upstairs.

He goes to the second level. It is lesser packed but, again, he could not find the boy. He walks around the place, his height giving him a good advantage, but amongst the many bodies, the familiar mop of blonde hair could not be found. His mind thinks: perhaps he didn't come after all. He releases a sigh, perhaps of relief, and walks back downstairs. But as his foot reaches the first step, there is a tumultuous round of applause. And he pauses now because he knows that this must be it.

Suddenly, his legs feel heavy and his hands are sweaty; he cannot move.

"Woo! Oh yeah!"

What should he do?

For the longest while we jamming in the Party

And you're wining on me

Pushing everything

Right back on top of me

"Ha Ha Ha!"

What should he do?

He doesn't understand why he is caught in a moment of indecision. Then, bodies push against him forcing him to move as they make their way downstairs. He is reluctant. _Didn't I come here to get him out of this?_

He walks down slowly but stops halfway. Because halfway is all it takes to see the whole commotion.

But if you think you're gonna get away from me

You better change your mind

You're going home...

You're going home with me tonight

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

There is something that Naruto feels he has no control over. As if detached, he sees bodies, many bodies surrounding a person moving in entire sync with the music.

Let me hold you

Girl caress my body

You got me going crazy - You

Turn me on

Turn me on...

Vaguely, he remembers that he likes this song.

Let me jam you

Girl wine all around me

You got me going crazy - You

Turn me on

Turn me on...

And there it is again: the same body dancing against another and then another round of cheers and laughter.

He didn't know that he could dance like that.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

Sasuke pushes through the crowds of people towards the centre. _What did they feed him?_ When he makes his way there, he is then conscious that people are now staring at him. There are hushed noises and whispers of: "Sasuke?" That much he is aware. Then he turns to Naruto. But he knows from the look in those eyes that this is not him.

Girl Just Hug Me, Hug Me, Kiss Me, Squeeze Me

Hug Me, Hug Me, Kiss and Caress Me

Hug Me, Hug Me, Kiss Me, Squeeze Me

Hug Me, Hug Me, Kiss and Caress Me

Naruto is now dancing in front of him –head spinning, hands moving seductively down his own body. The boy is inching closer and closer until it is clear that he is now dancing with him. Then the music stops abruptly. But Naruto doesn't stop dancing and again, there is a horde of laughter. Sasuke doesn't try to find the culprit; instead, he grabs Naruto's wrists and forces the boy out, passing the now parted crowd.

"Sasuke?" He hears Sakura and turns to face her.

He looks at her but doesn't say anything. Somehow, though, the girl seems to understand and the camera that Sasuke assumes she was using is dropped from her hands. There are hushed noises that he can hear in the now silent room but Sasuke leaves them all behind.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

When Sasuke is out and makes his way to the main road to hail a taxi and be away from all the commotion, he feels his hand being violently shaken off.

"What are you doing!"

He eyes Naruto and replies calmly: "I'm getting you home."

"I don't need you to get me home!"

Naruto walks uncoordinatedly away, his upper body occasionally tipping over.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to get ice-cream!" Naruto laughs a little then hiccups.

"That's ridiculous," Sasuke says and runs towards the boy. He attempts to hold him lest he falls but is shook away again.

Naruto's head is turned upwards towards the sky then back down to eye him.

"Did you know?" he says rather slurred. "How many stars you see up there represents how many tears that you've shed?" Naruto laughs but it is a pitiful sound. "The amount differs amongst people. The bigger they are means the more heartbroken that time must be." He leans in on Sasuke as if hugging. "But I don't get it," Naruto says softly now, "I don't allow myself to cry… but why do I see so many?"

Sasuke takes this time to hold him. It is silent save for the occasional cars that drive past. "Because that is false," he hears himself saying. "Stars are just stars. They are the remnants of comets that exist in the galaxy. I would've expected you to know better, idiot."

He is pushed away softly this time but Naruto continues his solitary walk. He now hums a song and Sasuke recognizes that it is the same one as before. Then he sings.

"Let me hold you

Girl caress my body

You got me going crazy…

"Do you think," he suddenly asks, "I'll ever get laid?" He spins around to face him but Sasuke doesn't know what to say.

Then there is a laugh. It is a fake one, Sasuke notices and the boy dances again by himself on the empty street. He concludes that the boy is on a high.

He searches his wallet looking for how much he has but is shocked to find it not there. Suddenly he remembers that he'd forgotten about it. The boy continues to dance and laugh hysterically so Sasuke uses this time to check his pockets. There are a few coins, which he is glad. _$3.55, _he thinks. _That can get us to the city. From the city to school, is a 10-minute walk. From school to his house is a 20-minute walk–30 minutes. Add 20 for delay. It's half-past 9 at the moment; that will make it 10:20 to get there_ –"Why am I calculating?"

He stops then and looks around for a taxi. When there is one he tells the driver to wait for a while. Sasuke goes over to grab Naruto again, forcefully even, and gets him to go in the car. The high still hadn't worn off but he knows that it will soon come. He closes the door.

"City centre, thanks."

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

Naruto feels himself being ushered out of a car. "Stop it!" he yells. "What are you doing?"

His vision is suddenly flooded with many lights, many people, many gasps. _Why? Oh, why do they always have to be like that?_

"You got a problem? Do you? I'm Uzumaki Naruto! You've got a problem with that, huh? _Don't _look at me like that!"

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

The boy is being completely unreasonable yelling at strangers like that. Sasuke grabs a hold of him and tries his best to avoid all the strange looks directed to them. He bows an apologetic bow and moves away as fast as he can. He places the boy's arm over his shoulder but the boy shoves him away.

"Why do you always stare, huh? Why!"

The boy is screaming at the people around them again and Sasuke resists the urge to punch him in the face. "Come on," he whispers.

"You're all faggots, I'm telling ya! Go die! What the fuck did I ever do to you, huh? What!"

"Just shut up, Naruto."

When the boy still continues his yelling Sasuke decides that this is the end of it. He elbows the boy in the stomach hard enough to make him collapse. Still aware of the looks he is receiving he quickly places Naruto on his back and heads in the direction of the school.

"Idiot," he says.

After a while, when they finally reach the residential area of Naruto's home, Sasuke begins to walk slower. He is getting tired from piggybacking Naruto for more than 20 minutes and wonders when they'll ever arrive at the boy's place. Then he decides to stop for a while.

Placing the boy carefully down, he lets him rest against a wall. He sits next to him too, shoulders touching accidentally. There is a rush in his body, but he is used to this now. Sasuke looks at him, at Naruto with the blonde hair, the peaceful face and without knowing, he smiles. _If only…_

His hand reaches out but quickly retrieves it when the boy stirs. Naruto's lids slowly open and he feels a pang of guilt for the to-be action before. _Idiot_. He continues staring though, but Naruto doesn't seem to be looking at him –he stares to the ground.

"Why do they always look at me like that?" the boy says softly.

And Sasuke thinks: he's still thinking about that.

"I don't get it. Why? Why do they always…"

"We don't usually get everything," Sasuke says unknowingly.

Naruto looks up and they lock gazes for a moment. A tear slides down a smooth cheek and Sasuke's breath hitches.

"I've tried everything. I did. I don't do physical sport 'cause I'm afraid that somehow, by some peculiar reason, I'll hurt someone." The boy's voice is breaking. "I don't fight back 'cause I'm scared that if I do I might lose control. I don't force people to like me. But why? Why do people treat me like this? Why can't anyone just acknowledge me? Acknowledge the fact that I do try?" Sasuke hears sobs now and something inside of him feels pained. Something that wrenches his heart making it uncomfortable to breathe. In that moment all he wants is to make the tears from the boy stop. He wants him to feel good, better than right now.

"I'll-I'll acknowledge you," he says. "If you want me to, I'll acknowledge you." But the boy continues to cry and he is pained once more. "Naruto, I acknowledge you."

Sasuke feels his wrists being squeezed but he does not complain. After a while, when Naruto stops sobbing, he laughs again. "What am I? A drama queen?" He looks up again at the night sky and Sasuke feels compelled to follow. "They're pretty."

"Yes," Sasuke agrees.

Naruto sniffs. "Hug Me," He then begins to sing. " Hug Me, Kiss and… Caress Me…"

When the singing stops, Sasuke turns to look at the boy.

"Who are you?" the boy suddenly asks and Sasuke becomes speechless. There is a smile and a little laughter before Naruto's face looms towards his. "I can't see your eyes."

Sasuke feels his fringe being parted and then the boy's eyes staring intently in them. He is shocked. Frightened. Afraid. His heartbeat quickens and again it is difficult to breathe.

"You look just like…"

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

Sasuke. He looks just like Sasuke.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

Naruto doesn't finish his sentence. Instead, he stands up –awkwardly –and is about to trip over except his feet gains back balance.

"Where are you going?" asks Sasuke when he catches his breath back. He stands up to be by the boy's side.

"I can get back home myself," Naruto says.

Sasuke doesn't know what to do so he stays standing where he is. He watches Naruto, with the open arms and the attempted straight-line walk, and his mind wonders who it is that he sees. _Is it me? _he thinks. _Is it? But why do you walk away?_

"For the longest while we jamming in the Party." He is struck back with Naruto's off key singing. "And you're wining on me… pushing everything… right back on top of me, yea - hey- ai… but if you think you're gonna get away from me… you better change your mind… you're going home... you're going home with me tonight."

_You like this song don't you. _

"Let me _hold_ you… girl caress my _body_… you got me going _crazy_ – you… turn me on… turn me –urgh-! "

Sasuke runs to the boy; he is vomiting. "Ugh! Urg! Blerrr!"

"Idiot. You okay?" He begins rubbing the other's back in a soothing up and down motion. He sees the vomit –an abnormal white –and wonders back to the amount of drugs they must've fed him. "You okay?" he asks again.

But the boy doesn't answer him instead he just laughs. In hast, he wipes his mouth with the end of his sleeves and continues his walk –and singing –again.

"Let me jam you… girl wine all around me… you got me going crazy – you… turn me –"

He falls and Sasuke rushes to him again. "Bloody hell," Sasuke curses. He doesn't hear the boy's soft continuation of the lyrics. "Stop being a fucking drunkard." He slowly lifts the boy up. "I hate it when you act like a complete idiot."

"Turn me on…"

"Is it in your nature or something? Being so idiotic most of the time? Why can't you just be mature once in a while, huh? What the hell's so good about you anyway? Why do I ha–"

Lips suddenly press against Sasuke's. He is cut short. His sentence doesn't finish. The words he wants to say will never be said.

Like on playback, like some sort of de ja vu, it happened. He falls backwards, Naruto with him, and lands on the concrete. But Sasuke has no time to think on the pain in his back. He has no time to think what on earth is going on. Neither has he the time to compare differences of situations.

No, Sasuke right now has to think how he is to react to Naruto's lips against his. He has to think what to do now that he feels Naruto's tongue inside his mouth. He has to suppress the thought that this is clumsy –too clumsy –and make use of the fact that Naruto is kissing him now. A real kiss. A beginner's kiss.

He starts moving his tongue, slowly, trying to meet up with Naruto's. He tastes a bit of vomit somewhere in the boy's mouth but it no longer matters. He moves, he licks, he sucks and when before it was slow, now it is quick and desperate. As if neither of them would survive once this is all over.

Sasuke can feel Naruto's hands in his hair. Can feel it being tangled on the sides. He can feel Naruto's body pressed hard against his. Can feel both their groins grinding in sync with each other. Can feel both of them growing hard.

He moans –a pleasurable moan –and thinks: why didn't we fucking do this earlier? They continue the fight of dominance with their tongues, each unrelenting, until Naruto suddenly stops. The grinding stops. The hardness grows limp. And then Naruto's mouth is removed from his.

Sasuke thinks: what's wrong? Did I bite you? Why are you stopping?

He feels Naruto's head on his shoulder and when he lifts himself a bit to see the boy, he sees that he has fallen asleep. His body drops down.

Sasuke chooses to look at the sky now. He chooses to stare at the stars because he thinks that, by doing so, it can clear his mind. But it does not. What he thinks is the softness of the other's lips, the sweetness of the other's mouth and the pleasure of intimacy. And he comes to one conclusion.

_I need to get laid._

TBC....

**Songs:**

1)Kylie Minogue - On a Night Like This

2)Kevin Lyttle - Turn Me On (sorry for overusing it)


End file.
